1,000 Migrants Apprehended After Crossing Border into West Texas

El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended groups totaling of more than 1,000 mostly Venezuelan migrants who illegally crossed the border near El Paso on Wednesday. The crossings followed a deadly fire in a Mexican immigration detention center that left at least 38 migrants dead.

El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Anthony “Scott” Good tweeted a series of photos of groups of migrants who illegally crossed the border between ports of entry on Wednesday. Officials say the migrants crossed in smaller groups of about 20-30 migrants eventually totaling more than 1,000.

While the migrants crossed in smaller groups, the numbers quickly rose to more than 1,000. This required Border Patrol officials to surge additional agents into the area to process the migrants in a timely and orderly manner. This ties up Border Patrol resources and increases the opportunity for smugglers to move other human or drug cargo across the border in other areas.

Early this week, at least 38 migrants died in a fire that ravaged a Mexican immigration detention center in Ciudad Juarez, Breitbart Texas reported. The fire began after protesting migrants allegedly set fire to mattresses. A leaked security video showed immigration officials leaving migrants behind locked doors as the fire and smoke engulfed the area behind the migrants.

CBP officials believe that cartel human smuggling operators made social media posts that incorrectly informed migrants that if they crossed the border and surrendered to Border Patrol agents in El Paso, they would be allowed to stay in the United States. This is incorrect, officials stated.

“USBPs authority to expel migrants under Title 42 & place migrants under Title 8 removal proceedings has NOT changed,” Chief Good stated in his tweet.

CBP officials added:

The El Paso Sector continues to process individuals safely, efficiently and effectively at the border and continues to expel migrants under CDC’s Title 42 authority. Those who cannot be expelled under Title 42, who are processed under Title 8 authority and do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States, will be placed in removal proceedings.

A source operating under the umbrella of U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Breitbart Texas they believe this is an isolated incident where cartel plaza bosses seized upon an opportunity following the fire to make some money by moving a large number of migrants across the border. This incident does not appear to be a new surge of migrant crossings.