- Hundreds of migrants near El Paso, Texas, break the concertina wire placed by the Texas National Guard
- Prior to the breach, the migrants had camped south of the border wall, on the north side of the fence.
- The Texas National Guard pushed them south of the fence on Wednesday until the migrants rushed to the border wall en masse on Thursday
Chaotic moments were captured on video as migrants near El Paso, Texas, who had been pushed away from the border wall by Texas soldiers, poured over barbed wire fences and made a mad dash to return to the border barrier.
In a video tweeted Thursday by independent photographer J. Omar Ornelas, dozens of migrants are seen climbing and flooding several layers of concertina wire strung up by members of the Texas National Guard.
“Hundreds of migrants were pushed south of the Concertina Wire by the Texas National Guard in the middle of the night,” the border snapper explained.
“Hours later, they breached the concertina again and rushed to the border wall in El Paso, Texas.”
The migrants are already in the US because they have already crossed the international border, which is a few hundred meters south of the border wall.
In a wild moment, migrants run madly toward the border in El Paso after breaking through Texas’ barbed wire
Migrants camp along concertina wire on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande on the day the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral arguments on Texas’ motion to lift a block on the SB4 immigration law that would allow state officials arrest migrants suspected of being in the country illegally in El Paso, Texas
Many of these asylum-seeking migrants had opted not to surrender immediately because this is a known place to surrender to U.S. Border Patrol agents as they were in limbo due to a Texas law SB4.
The controversial law authorizes state and local police in the Lone Star State to arrest illegal immigrants, a right reserved only for federal officials such as the U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The law, which has been banned several times by federal courts in recent days, was then allowed to take effect for a few hours on Tuesday before being blocked again on Tuesday evening.
The legal whiplash left many migrants unsure what would happen to them if they surrendered to Border Patrol.
Tension had increased over the past two days as the camp grew.
Known as ‘Gate 36’, this is a popular spot for migrants seeking asylum in El Paso, Texas. Migrants regularly cross this area, seeking out border guards and surrendering to U.S. authorities
A dust storm blows through a migrant camp on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande as migrants await the fate of a new border law that could make it harder for them to enter through Texas
Migrants camp along concertina wire on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande on the day the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral arguments on Texas’ motion to lift a block on the SB4 immigration law that would allow state officials arrest migrants suspected of being in the country illegally
Migrants gather at concertina wire while camping on the US side, pleading with the Texas National Guard to allow them access to the border wall so they can seek asylum
Hundreds camped in the no man’s land between the Rio Grande, north of the river that divides the US and Mexico.
The river is the international border, not the border wall.
On Wednesday evening, the Texas National Guard rounded up hundreds of migrants and forced them south of the razor wire, which remains in the US.
On Thursday morning, the migrants climbed over the fence in coordination and ran to the border wall to presumably turn themselves in.