Eagle Pass, Texas. On Thursday, about 400 migrants crossed the Rio Grande north of the city in a group. Migrants cross the border during the hottest hours of the day, when temperatures exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The group consists mainly of single adult immigrants from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaraguan.
The group walked about a mile down the riverbank after being led by cartel smugglers. They surrendered to the border guards and were sorted by nationality as they prepared to be transported to the nearest processing facility.
Some members of the group were unable to walk due to the extreme heat and the border guards were transferred to the assembly point. The group includes families with young children. Breitbart Texas spoke to several people who said they had recently arrived in the Mexican border town of Piedras Negras and had been traveling in the United States for over two months.
The migrants said they were part of a caravan in southern Mexico from Tapachula, Chiapas, near the Guatemalan border, until they received travel documents from Mexico’s National Institute of Migration. Travel documents give immigrants a 30-day window to legally travel to the northern border via Mexico.
Part of the Del Rio sector, Eagle Pass has become an immigrant border crossing point and now leads all other border towns in the number of immigrants detained. At a press conference on border security issues on Thursday, Del Rio Patrol Chief Agent Jason Owens told reporters that the industry has detained more than 340,000 people since October. He also expressed concern about the 140,000 people who escaped from prison during the same time period.
Ironically, a large group of immigrants was crossing the Rio Grande just a few miles away when Owens spoke to reporters.
The influx of large groups of immigrants became widespread in Eagle Pass. The task of providing transportation, medical care, and sanitation strains border patrol resources at the expense of routine law enforcement duties. An agent said the steady stream of immigrants to Breitbart Texas had nearly destroyed staff morale.
Randy Clark 32-year veteran of the US Border Patrol. Before retiring, he served as Chief of Law Enforcement Operations, overseeing the operations of nine Border Patrol stations in the Del Rio Sector, Texas. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.
Source: Breitbart
