EXCLUSIVE: Biden Admin Releases Migrants into South Texas — Again

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The downtown streets of this South Texas border community are once-again awash with recently released migrants waiting to depart the border city to other parts of the country. Breitbart Texas interviewed several dozen migrants on Friday, all from Venezuela, who spoke of the long journey to the United States and the conditions suffered while waiting in Mexico for the end of the Title 42 COVID-19 expulsion authority.

Just-released migrants congregated outside the La Plaza Bus Terminal and a nearby charity shelter that receives the migrants directly from the Border Patrol. The migrants Breitbart Texas interviewed were mostly single adult male and female Venezuelan nationals. One Venezuelan woman, Daniela from Caracas, was with her young son. As they sat patiently on a downtown bench near the bus terminal, Daniela described her dire predicament.

The Venezuelan woman told Breitbart she was able to pay for one night’s stay at a hotel after her release from a Border Patrol holding facility. She feared immediate expulsion to Mexico under the COVID-19 emergency order but instead was released after a short stay in custody. The 29-year-old Daniela says she is headed to Naples, Florida, where she has distant relatives. She explained she has spent what little money she had on one night’s lodging and believes she may sleep on the streets if her relatives do not send funds to assist her with travel.

Miguel, a 32-year-old Venezuelan national said he became separated from his Peruvian wife after they surrendered to the Border Patrol after crossing the Rio Grande. The couple met after Miguel fled from Venezuela more than four years ago. Miguel lived in Peru as a refugee due to the severe poverty in his hometown of San Carlos in Venezuela. As Miguel sat alone on the sidewalk, he explained he was waiting for his wife, who is being detained by the Border Patrol.

Miguel claims his wife’s status as a citizen of Peru means she will be processed differently than him. He hopes he will be reunited with her upon her release. He did not know for sure what her fate would be. He claims the Venezuelan migrants are kept separate from other nationalities while in custody and men are separated from the women even if they are married.

Miguel described the months-long journey from the southern border of Mexico and the delay in receiving authorization to travel through Mexico from Mexico’s National Institute of Migration (INM). Miguel told Breitbart Texas he was robbed by law enforcement officers in Mexico City and left with no funds to purchase food or shelter as he and his wife traveled across Mexico to the United States.

Miguel says he and his wife spent more than a month in a migrant encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, as they waited to cross into the United States. “The conditions in the camp were cold, horrible, and unsanitary,” he added in Spanish.

Throughout the morning and early afternoon, busloads of migrants driven by Border Patrol agents and contract bus drivers arrived near a migrant charity shelter in the heart of downtown Brownsville. The buses were met by a crew of hospitality volunteers from the shelter who quickly ushered the migrants into the facility.  Occasionally, the shelter doors would open as volunteers led the migrants to the nearby La Plaza bus terminal across the street.

Once inside, migrants purchased tickets to numerous parts of the United States. Those that Breitbart spoke with claimed to be headed to Tennessee, Florida, New York, and Virginia. A very small number said that having no sponsors or relatives in the United States, they preferred to stay in Texas.

Several of the migrants displayed their newly issued DHS smartphones. The phones are part of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Alternatives to Detention Program (ATD) program. On the devices, migrants can let ICE know their whereabouts and monitor messages related to their asylum petitions. Some of the migrants, including Miguel, were released without the ICE smartphone. Miguel says he was provided a piece of paper that told him to report to ICE at an unspecified time and location.

According to a source within Customs and Border Protection, not authorized to speak to the media, nearly 700 migrants are released into downtown Brownsville daily. As reported by Breitbart Texas, nearly 2,000 migrants crossed from Matamoros, Mexico into Brownsville on Thursday. Since Sunday, the source says nearly 7,000 migrants have crossed the Rio Grande hoping to also gain their release into the United States.

The migrant releases in downtown Brownsville are occurring as the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security announced new immigration measures on Thursday that aim to stem the flow of migrants entering the United States.

The measures include increased use of the expedited removal authority. Authorities promised to double the number of refugees admitted from the Western Hemisphere. In addition, the announcement promises the United States will continue to accept up to 30,000 individuals per month from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Haiti as part of the expanded parole processes announced earlier this year.

According to Miguel, the Venezuelan migrants crossing into the United States have sold everything they own to finance their journey from countries that have provided refuge to them like Colombia and Peru. For Miguel, the rule changes and promises to allow more migrants to enter are irrelevant — “We have no choice but to cross into the United States at this point.”

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.