A wave of migrants swarmed the southwest border from Arizona to Texas as the Biden administration prepares to restart former President Donald Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocol. The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 20,000 migrants since Friday. The source believes the migrants are rushing the border to avoid being subjected to the “Remain in Mexico” program for asylum seekers being implemented this week by Biden administration officials.
The “Remain in Mexico” program, officially dubbed the Migrant Protection Protocols kicked off on Monday as the result of a recent federal court order. The Biden administration negotiated with Mexico to allow the return of a yet undisclosed number of migrants under the program. The administration will begin the program in spite of its continued attempts to cancel it entirely.
The source says more than 5,000 apprehensions occurred within the Rio Grande Valley Sector between Friday and Sunday. During the same time frame, nearly 4,000 were apprehended within the Del Rio, Sector. The Yuma Sector remains in the third spot in overall Border Patrol apprehensions at slightly above 3,000 apprehensions during the same three-day period.
The source says the surge is contributing to the overcrowding in facilities, exacerbating efforts to find suitable detention spaces for the migrants. Many of the migrants have yet to be entered into computer registry systems that record apprehensions. The source says nearly 15,000 migrants, the majority of whom are single adults, are currently being detained in Border Patrol stations and soft-sided processing facilities along the southwest border.
Border Patrol agents along the southwestern Arizona border detain more large groups of migrants as Biden administration officials restart the Trump-era Remain in Mexico Program. (U.S. Border Patrol/Yuma Sector)
The border apprehension numbers cited above are “just what’s been entered into the system, we are holding several thousand more that we have not been able to enter into the computer systems to accurately track detention numbers” the source explained.
In Del Rio, Texas, an outdoor encampment under the international bridge near the city is being used almost daily to temporarily detain migrants until scant detention space and limited transportation resources become available to move the migrants.
That outdoor encampment was recently used to detain more than 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants. The source says the overcrowding at Border Patrol facilities is widespread and is occurring within almost all sectors.
According to the source, the Border Patrol in Yuma is currently detaining more than 2,500 migrants on official detention records. This figure does not include those migrants awaiting transportation at arrest locations.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.