EAGLE PASS, Texas — According to a source within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, nearly 1,800 migrants were apprehended entering the small Texas border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday. Nearly 1,400 migrants made landfall along the Rio Grande in the heart of the downtown area. The migrants were quickly moved to a Border Patrol processing facility that is already nearly five times over its capacity of 1,000 migrants.
Hundreds of migrants apprehended by the Border Patrol made their way to the Texas border on freight trains in the Mexican city of Nava, Coahuila, on Sunday. The migrants walked 27 miles to reach the border city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila. In a scene that has repeated itself daily, Breitbart Texas observed migrants crossing the river in large groups of more than one hundred being staged for transport under the Eagle Pass International Bridge 1, which has been closed since Wednesday. The Biden administration closed the bridge to legal border crossings while the illegal crossings continued unabated.
Adding to the migrants arriving in Piedras Negras by freight train are hundreds that arrive by bus and other means to the border city as they make their way to the United States. The source told Breitbart the story of migrant crossings elsewhere is being missed.
“The optics of the huge wave of migrants that come into the downtown area require the bulk of our agents to deal with, but they aren’t the only ones crossing,” the source explained. “Large groups are arriving in Piedras Negras by bus and crossing through more remote areas as well.”
In addition to the nearly 1,400 migrants crossing into the heart of Eagle Pass, nearly 400 more were discovered farther from the city. The number of migrant encounters by one of two Border Patrol stations in Eagle Pass reached more than 1,700 by day’s end, according to the source. The station’s area of responsibility is centered around the incorporated areas of the city. The Del Rio Sector’s other station in Eagle Pass is responsible for more remote areas where migrant crossings occur in smaller numbers but whose Border Patrol agents are also tasked with assisting in the current migrant crossing spike in the downtown area.
The source told Breitbart Texas nearly 15,000 migrants have crossed into Eagle Pass in the last eight days. The unprecedented migrant surge has strained the agency’s resources, impacting routine patrols outside a small footprint in the city.
“These daily crossings take every available Border Patrol agent to deal with, whether transporting, processing, or providing humanitarian services under the bridge, we have no one left to patrol ranches outside the city,” the source lamented.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, nearly 600,000 migrants are believed to have eluded apprehension this fiscal year, according to the Border Patrol. The number of known got-a-ways is likely much higher, according to the source, as fewer Border Patrol agents are performing the routine patrols relied upon to gather the data.
The mayor of Eagle Pass issued a disaster declaration last week in hopes of receiving additional funding to deal with the crisis. City workers cleared debris from land near the international ports of entry to accommodate the Border Patrol’s need to stage the migrants underneath the bridge. The city has also provided all-weather road materials to assist with bus access to move the migrants.
The city’s 7-day disaster declaration will expire on Tuesday and require a vote of the City Council to extend.
So far this month, more than 35,000 migrants have been apprehended in the Del Rio Sector that includes the Eagle Pass area of operations, according to Border Patrol reports reviewed by Breitbart Texas.
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.