EAGLE PASS, Texas — More than 1,500 migrants crossed the border from Mexico into Eagle Pass during the first six hours of Monday morning, according to a source with CBP. This shatters a record for the small Texas border town established last Friday when 1,300 migrants crossed the border in a single day.
Multiple sources within CBP told Breitbart Texas that the 1,500 border crossers apprehended in Eagle Pass this morning forced the shutdown of the local migrant processing center. The shelter, designed to hold about 1,000 migrants, had already tripled its capacity, with more than 3,000 migrants being detained on Friday. Officials are now preparing to hold the migrants outdoors and leadership is attempting to make plans for the overwhelming border surge.
UPDATE: Border Patrol officials confirmed to Breitbart that agents apprehended 1,524 migrants during the early Monday morning hours.
As Breitbart Texas arrived on scene Monday morning, agents had approximately 800 migrants in detention under the El Camino Real International Bridge. It is not known what, if any, plans Border Patrol management has to deal with these rapidly increasing numbers of migrants.
Over the weekend, Breitbart reported that the number of migrants crossing into the city in one single day broke any record kept by the agency. “In just one eight-hour shift, more than 700 migrants were taken into custody” the source explained. “We lack the capacity to deal with it. This system is broken.”
Breitbart Texas reached out to Biden administration officials to find out what plans they have to deal this most most-recent crisis on the Texas border with Mexico. An immediate response was not available.
Reports indicate that Mexican military officials in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, stopped an additional 1,200 migrants from crossing this morning. It is likely those migrants will make another attempt to cross later in the day.
At a staging location about two miles south of the Camino Real Port of Entry, Border Patrol agents have about 1,000 migrants in custody who are awaiting transport.
Temperatures in the area are expected to hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit by noon and continue rising to a high of 96.
As the sun came up Monday morning, migrants continued in smaller groups. Border Patrol agents moved the migrants to staging areas under the international bridge.
In the only soft-sided processing facility that operates on a budget of more than six million dollars per month, the number of migrants detained exceeded 3,000. The number of migrants being held, according to the source, is more than three times its rated capacity.
By mid-morning, a source said every Border Patrol agents in the area with a commercial driver’s license had been mobilized to move the migrants. More than 1,000 migrants were moved from the riverbank staging area. All of the 1,000 migrants held at the location south of the port of entry were removed by 9 a.m. Approximately 300-400 remained under the international bridge. Those are being tended to by EMT-trained border agents.
It is unclear where the migrants will be held as the processing center is well beyond capacity. It is likely, the mass release of migrants into Eagle Pass witness on Sunday will continue or even expand.
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As a result, Border Patrol officials released hundreds of migrants to a charity shelter in Eagle Pass. The shelter, which also exceeded its capacity, began the forced release of migrants who had no money to pay for bus or airline tickets to leave the small Texas border town.
Migrants could be observed leaving the only non-government shelter, Mission Border Hope. The migrants are leaving the city with no funds to purchase bus tickets or fly out. The city’s streets were awash with migrants walking aimlessly, asking residents for a ride or money to purchase meals.
Several groups of migrants spoke to Breitbart Texas and said the NGO shelter, Mission Border Hope, would not help the migrants unless they had funds to purchase bus tickets to leave the facility. The cost, according to the migrants, was $50.00 to travel to San Antonio, located more than 150 miles from the border city.
“We had no knowledge that the poorest of migrants would be thrown out on the streets and expected to walk more than 150 miles to the next largest city, but that is where we are,” the source emphasized.
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.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
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