Drop in Trump Era Border Crossings Shutters Detention Center

A decline in border crossings in the Rio Grande Valley Sector allowed officials to shut down one of its temporary holding facilities. Officials opened the facility in December in response to the surge of migrant apprehensions in south Texas.

The facility being closed is located near the Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge, Breitbart Texas reported in December. “This effort is designed to minimize the impact to border security operations while fulfilling our humanitarian efforts,” Joint Task Force-West South Texas Corridor Commander Manuel Padilla, Jr. said at that time in a written statement. “We will work closely with all our partner agencies to maintain efficient operations.”

Preliminary numbers of border apprehensions following the swearing in of President Donald Trump revealed a sharp drop in Family Unit Aliens (FMUA) and Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC), according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. FMUA apprehensions decreased in January by 42 percent while UAC apprehensions declined by 39 percent. While the apprehensions decreased from the previous month, they are still significantly ahead of January 2016 numbers.

CBP officials stated they are suspending operation of the temporary holding facility late last week.

“A continual decline in the total number of apprehended and inadmissible alien migrants in custody at the facility, along with manageable processing of migrants at previously impacted CBP Ports of Entry and Stations” led to the facilities shutdown, KRGV reported Tuesday.

Breitbart Texas reached out to CBP officials for more information about the suspension of operations and to learn if any of the other temporary facilities had been closed. No response was immediately available.

Border Patrol officials moved 150 agents to the Rio Grande Valley Sector in November to help with the surge of migrant apprehensions. Officials have not stated if those agents are being returned to their home sectors or if they are remaining deployed.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.