Migrant smugglers boast on social media how EASY it is to cross the border in confronting clip showing long line of men entering the U.S – as judge tears apart one of Biden’s key immigration policies
Migrant smugglers boasted how easy it is to illegally cross the US border in a confrontational video that showed a long line of men entering the US smiling and waving to the camera.
The alarming footage, filmed May 27 near Lukeville, Arizona, shows a long line of migrant men casually climbing through a hole in the US-Mexico border wall, meeting no resistance or questioning.
A caption in Spanish to the video reads, “Achieving their goals, gentlemen,” followed by two prayer emojis. The text on the video also describes the crossing as a ‘desert adventure’.
The remote outpost where the video was shot is about two and a half hours from Tucson, which has become the busiest point of illegal entry into the country, with 1,300 people entering the U.S. in this area each day, according to federal statistics.
It comes as a federal judge will decide whether poverty would classify entry to the US on humanitarian grounds in a lawsuit brought by Texas and 20 other Republican-leaning states against the Biden administration.
A video of migrant smugglers bragging about how easy it is to cross the US-Mexico border has attracted attention on social media
Migrants wade the Rio Grande River past buoys and barbed wire in search of an entry point to the United States from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas July 29, 2023
The alarming footage, taken May 27 near Lukeville, Arizona, shows a long line of migrant men casually climbing through a gap in the US-Mexico border.
Border police officers told the New York Post they believe that smugglers are making these videos to promote the crossing to others.
It’s “free information for everyone,” an unnamed agent told the Post.
Migrants reportedly pay smugglers anywhere from $200 to $6,000 per person for assistance crossing the border.
The issue of illegal migration at the border has become a hot political topic in recent months.
Texas is currently challenging the Biden administration’s program to allow 30,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela combined to enter the US monthly, on humanitarian grounds.
The opposing states have accused the policy of being a “shadow immigration system” that admits almost anyone who applies.
US District Judge Drew Tipton said a “much of the world” lives in poverty, adding that he has visited Haiti and witnessed firsthand the appalling living conditions there.
“Is the fact that they live in poverty an urgent humanitarian need?” Tipton asked as closing arguments were presented at the trial in Victoria, Texas.
A bus of Texas migrants is seen arriving at a church in Los Angeles
Border Patrol officers escort migrants on a bus to be taken to a processing facility where they can begin their asylum application process in Eagle Pass, Texas
A second group of migrants was taken by bus from Texas to Los Angeles on Saturday and dropped off at Union Station downtown
“I probably don’t think so,” said Elissa Fudim, an attorney with the US Department of Justice, which is defending the federal government in the lawsuit.
Lawyers from Texas and the other states say the large numbers of migrants on parole in the US show officials are granting parole en masse and not on a case-by-case basis as required by law.
But lawyers from the US Department of Justice and immigrant rights groups argued that migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela are fleeing not only economic hardship but oppressive regimes, escalating violence and deteriorating political conditions that put their lives at risk. have brought.
The governors of red states, such as Florida and Texas, have begun shipping migrants to blue states such as California and New York.
Texas has transported more than 21,600 migrants out of the state since last spring, according to Governor Greg Abbott’s office.
Abbott said he sent migrants to Los Angeles because California had declared itself a “haven” for immigrants and provided protection for people living in the country illegally.
Abbott said in June that “the small border towns of Texas continue to be overwhelmed and overrun by the thousands of people illegally crossing into Texas from Mexico because of President Biden’s refusal to secure the border.”
“Los Angeles is a big city that migrants want to move to, especially now that city leaders have approved its self-declared sanctuary city status.
The issue of illegal migration at the border has become a hot political topic in recent months
Texas has transported more than 21,600 migrants out of the state since last spring, Governor Greg Abbott’s office said.
“Our border communities are on the front line of President Biden’s border crisis, and Texas will continue to provide this much-needed assistance until it does its job and secures the border.”
Texas has brought more than 10,000 migrants to Washington DC since April 2022, more than 8,200 migrants to New York City since August 2022, more than 2,600 migrants to Chicago since August 2022, more than 1,600 migrants to Philadelphia since November 2022, more than 210 migrants to Denver since May 2023, and more than 80 migrants to Los Angeles since June 14.
Earlier in June, the state of Florida picked up three dozen migrants in Texas and sent them by private jet to California’s capital, surprising shelters and aid workers in Sacramento.
Earlier this year, DeSantis sent two planeloads of migrants to posh Martha’s Vineyard Island, off the coast of Massachusetts.
The border crossings for migrants come after Title 42 ended in May, sparking an influx of people across the border into the US.
The Title 42 rules were in effect as of March 2020.
The restrictions allowed border officials to quickly send asylum seekers back across the border to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
US authorities have unveiled strict new measures to replace Title 42, which crack down on illegal crossings while establishing legal pathways for migrants who apply online, find a sponsor and undergo background checks.