McALLEN, Texas — A rush by a large group of migrants trying to force their way from Mexico into a local port-of-entry led to a temporary shutdown.
The incident took place on Wednesday evening when a group of migrants in Mexico tried to rush the Hidalgo-Reynosa Port-of-Entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection deployed officers and concertina wire to temporarily close the Hidalgo International Bridge in response to multiple groups of undocumented aliens that had attempted to enter the port without inspection,” an agency statement explained. “Deployment of port hardening measures such as concertina wire and barricades supplemented by CBP personnel effectively eliminates the ability for a large group of migrants to illegally and forcefully surge through the Ports of Entry. The Hidalgo Bridge was temporarily closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic.”
After approximately two hours, authorities were able to restore peace and open traffic. The Mexican border city of Reynosa has three international bridges that lead to Hidalgo, McAllen-Mission, and Pharr, Texas.
McAllen has become the focal point in the border and immigration debates as thousands of migrants continue to cross the Rio Grande to request asylum. The spike in apprehensions by U.S. Border Patrol agents is stretching the detention and housing resources used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Border / Cartel Chronicles. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Border / Cartel Chronicles. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.