A source within Customs and Border Protection says Border Patrol detention facilities within the Del Rio Sector of Texas are again dangerously overcrowded. On Friday, one facility, designed to hold 500 migrants, contains at least 2,000 mostly Cubans. The typically single adult detainees are being processed and most likely will be released into the United States, according to the source.
At a soft-sided facility in Eagle Pass constructed last year, more than 1,600 Cuban nationals are being detained. The source notes the facility is holding four times the intended capacity.
In the span of several hours last week, the agency released nearly 200 single adult migrants to a local non-government shelter to alleviate overcrowding. The pace of releases, according to the source, is not keeping with the apprehension rate.
The migrant releases were mostly Venezuelans and Cubans whom are no longer expelled to Mexico under the CDC’s Title 42 emergency Covid-19 order. That order is expected to end soon and will add to the issue of overcrowding, according to the source. Title 42 allows Border Patrol agents to swiftly return Mexican and Central American migrants to Mexico without accepting asylum petitions. Most are returned within two hours of an illegal crossing.
The source says overcrowding is impacting other facilities in the area and that resources to move the migrants from the point of apprehension to processing are strained.
The Border Patrol’s Del Rio Sector is second only to the Rio Grande Valley in apprehensions. More than 30,000 migrants were apprehended in February within the sector. Agents in the Rio Grande Valley exceeded that by 3,000.
On Wednesday, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas released a statement acknowledging the situation at the southern border: “The situation at the southwest border is difficult. We are working around the clock to manage it and we will continue to do so.”
Mayorkas says Mexico’s limited capacity to accept migrants has strained the agency’s resources. When Mexico’s capacity is reached, migrants are placed into immigration proceedings in the United States, the cabinet secretary noted.
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.
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