As about 4,000 migrants crossed the border in Eagle Pass, Texas, in one day, the city issued an emergency declaration as it tries to combat the flood of illegal immigrants from Mexico.
Border Patrol sources said they join about 7,500 other migrants who have surrendered over the past week.
According to a Texas Department of Public Safety source, a large caravan of migrants has crossed the Rio Grande, and thousands of people are now held under the Eagle Pass bridge, with more believed to be on the way, ABC News 7 reported.
Mayor Rolando Salinas of Eagle Pass signed an emergency declaration after a new influx of migrants arrived over the weekend.
Salinas also said the city of Eagle Pass would not open a shelter: “We don’t have the funds or resources to do that.” »
Videos posted on social media show hordes of migrants in Eagle Pass, as the Biden administration’s lax policies continue to allow foreigners to flood into the United States and flood southern cities.
This is a developing story.
Eagle Pass, Texas, declared a state of emergency as shocking photos and videos show it overwhelmed by migrants “as 4,000 people cross the border today.”
According to a Texas Department of Public Safety source, a large caravan of migrants has crossed the Rio Grande and thousands of people are now held under the Eagle Pass Bridge, with more believed to be on the way.
“The City of Eagle Pass is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of its local citizens,” Salinas said in announcing the statement.
“The emergency declaration gives us the opportunity to request financial resources to provide the additional services caused by the influx of undocumented immigrants.”
The influx of migrants into the city also led the city to close Eagle Pass Bridge 1 at 6 p.m. local time. Vehicles were forced to use the second bridge to enter or return from Mexico.
The closure is due to the large influx of migrants, city leaders said.
Eagle Pass is one of the border towns crushed in recent months by the influx of migrants.
Valeria Wheeler operates a shelter in the area and said WOAI in San Antonio, Texas, they plan to open a new shelter on Thursday. This will increase their space from 8,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet.
“The big difference here is that we offer space for up to 200 people to stay overnight. Mothers and children will be more comfortable,” Wheeler told the outlet.
A Venezuelan migrant present at the shelter made the trip with her 18-month-old son. She said she crossed the Darien Gap into Panama before taking the train to the border.
The woman added that if she knew today what she did when she left, she would not have embarked on this dangerous journey.
“The emergency declaration gives us the opportunity to request financial resources to provide the additional services caused by the influx of undocumented immigrants,” said Mayor Rolando Salinas.
A group of migrants from Colombia, Honduras and Guatemala successfully scale a border fence with the United States, south of Eagle Pass.
The U.S. border has seen an influx of migrants from around the world, not just from Central and South American countries like Venezuela and Mexico. Migrants from China and other countries have entered via the porous southern border.
Fiscal year 2022 saw a record number of migrant encounters at the southwest border, with 2,378,944 crossings reported from October to September.
In 2023, through July, there have been 1,973,092 – many of which are coming as Title 42 expires.
The number of migrant crossings in August is expected to exceed 230,000, according to Fox News.
The increase in crossings has increased in recent years, with only 458,088 crossings reported in 2020 during the global COVID pandemic.
Eagle Pass is one of the border towns crushed in recent months by the influx of migrants. Pictured: Thousands of migrants at Eagle Pass on September 20
Videos posted on social media show hordes of migrants in Eagle Pass, as the Biden administration’s lax policies continue to allow the influx of foreigners into the United States.
Most of the migrants encountered are single adults, or 64.9 percent, but nearly 600,000 are individuals belonging to a family unit and 109,298 unaccompanied minors have crossed the border.
Texas has used barbed wire to keep migrants from entering illegally as it fights a challenge from the Biden administration seeking to stop it from building a buoy barrier in the Rio Grande.
The Lone Star State has also bused migrants to “sanctuary cities” such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles to provide relief to border cities.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott says Texas cities have borne the brunt of illegal immigration and “sanctuary cities” must share that burden.
“Texas has bused over 35,000 migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities,” he wrote earlier this month on Twitter.
“More than 11,300 in Washington DC, more than 13,300 in New York, more than 6,700 in Chicago, more than 2,600 in Philadelphia, more than 1,000 in Denver, more than 480 in Los Angeles. »
New York has seen more than 100,000 migrants arrive since the crisis began more than 18 months ago, leading Mayor Eric Adams to declare that the situation would “destroy” the city.
Asylum seekers, deprived of a hotel room, line the sidewalk of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York
Adams says New York City is struggling to cope and has ordered agencies to cut their budgets by 5 percent, and possibly 15 percent in the future, in order to fund the response to new arrivals.
Despite Adams’ pleas for help from the state and federal government, the city has not received aid to cover the additional costs, so the $4.7 billion would come from city budget.
This amount is equal to the combined budgets of the city’s sanitation, fire and parks departments.
At the start of the school year, some schools were forced to turn away students because classrooms were overflowing.
City officials said they expected the number of asylum seekers to reach nearly 33,980 households this fiscal year.
The city currently pays about $385 per night per migrant family in need of shelter and food.
According to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, asylum seekers cost the city about $10 million every day.