The Biden administration is deploying 800 troops to help the Texas National Guard in Eagle Pass, where a state of emergency was declared after 4,000 migrants poured into the city yesterday and more are expected today.
Before sunrise this morning, another 250 were waiting to be processed. Hundreds more are expected today in what many residents say is the worst border crisis they have ever experienced.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott yesterday condemned President Biden for allowing the unfolding disaster.
The city’s only migrant shelter, Mission Border Hope, is now overcrowded with migrants.
Many fled Venezuela and came to the United States via Mexico. Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas declared a state of emergency yesterday and warned that the city’s hospitals were also overwhelmed.
Another 250 people waited under a bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas, Thursday morning
Migrants wait to be processed in Eagle Pass on Thursday morning after overwhelming the small Texas border town yesterday
Abbott said he deployed people to repair the barbed wire in Eagle Pass
Pictured are thousands of migrants lining up to be processed as they arrive in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Wednesday. At one point the line stretched for five miles
The line of migrants waiting to be processed Wednesday stretched as far as the eye could see in Eagle Pass
Migrants sit under the bridge in Eagle Pass on Wednesday and wait to be processed
The bridge between Eagle Pass and the Mexican town across the border, Piedras Negras, was closed Wednesday so border officials could be moved to work processing migrants.
Randy Clark, a retired Border Patrol agent, said the decision to close the border to those traveling back and forth legally shows the extent of the problem.
“The only closure at the border is one of two ports of entry through which legal residents and citizens pass.” “DHS inconvenience is reserved for legitimate trade and travel,” he wrote on X.
“No hindrance to constant illegal traffic between ports.” “This government takes crazy pills!”
The line to process illegal immigrants stretched five miles Wednesday, NewsNation reported, snaking back into Mexico.
Rolando Salinas, the mayor of Eagle Pass, said 2,500 people came to his town of 29,000 on Monday – and there were 7,200 the week before.
So far this year, 317,866 migrant “encounters” have been recorded in the Del Rio section of the border where Eagle Pass is located, the latest Border Patrol data shows.
That’s a 15.5 percent decrease compared to the same period last year, but Salinas said his city is still struggling.
Rolando Salinas, the mayor of Eagle Pass, said 2,500 people came to his town of 29,000 on Monday. On Tuesday evening he declared a state of emergency
Migrants are pictured wading across the Rio Grande from Piedras Negras to Eagle Pass last week
“It has taken a toll on our local resources, particularly our police and fire departments,” he said Tuesday night.
“I’ve gotten a lot of calls from our constituents that they’re concerned, they see a lot of people in our community.”
“But I understand that some of these people don’t want to be there. “So they leave (the shelters) and are on our streets, and I understand a lot of people’s concerns.”
The Biden administration said it would send 800 active-duty military personnel to the border to augment the efforts of the 2,500 National Guard troops already deployed to support Customs and Border Protection at the border.
Abbott, the Texas governor, said he would also deploy more members of the state’s National Guard.
He said the barbed wire his team had laid along the riverbank had been torn down. He sent troops to relocate him again.
“Texas has installed barbed wire at Eagle Pass to prevent illegal border crossings,” Abbott said. “Today, the Biden administrator cut that wire, opening the floodgates to illegal immigrants.”
“I immediately deployed more Texas National Guard to deter illegal border crossings and install more barbed wire.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the Biden administration cut the razor wire along the border — so he sent people to replace it
Texas has installed barbed wire at Eagle Pass to prevent illegal border crossings.
Today, the Biden administrator cut that wire, opening the floodgates to illegal immigrants.
I immediately deployed more Texas National Guard to deter illegal border crossings and install more barbed wire. pic.twitter.com/eMtLS8Z6WI
– Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) September 20, 2023
Abbott said the Biden administration has not done enough to stem the influx
And amid fear at the border, the Biden administration announced its decision on Venezuela.
Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security, granted the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) due to “Venezuela’s increasing instability and lack of security due to ongoing humanitarian, security, political and environmental conditions,” the department said in a statement.
There are currently approximately 242,700 TPS beneficiaries under Venezuela’s existing TPS designation who can remain for an additional 18 months.
There are another approximately 472,000 Venezuelan nationals who are now eligible for the program.
Critics say the promise of work will encourage illegal border crossings – even though anyone who crossed after July 31 or who hasn’t registered will be barred from entry.
But supporters of the program said it allows migrants awaiting processing to work and earn a living, reducing the burden on states.
Migrants from Venezuela are seen wading through the Rio Grande to reach Eagle Pass on September 15
“More than 116,000 asylum seekers have come to New York City since last spring in search of the American dream,” tweeted Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City and one of the most vocal advocates for migrant work permits.
“Our administration and our partners across the city have led the calls to ‘let them work,’ so I want to thank @POTUS for listening to our entire coalition, including our hard-working congressional delegation, and taking this important step of hope.” to the thousands of Venezuelan asylum seekers currently in our care who are now immediately eligible for temporary protected status.”
Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, said she was also pleased – and seemed to take responsibility for the decision.
“After my productive conversation with @POTUS last night, I am grateful that the federal government acted so quickly to grant one of our top priorities: granting temporary protected status to Venezuelan migrants and asylum seekers who have already arrived in this country,” said she wrote on X.
“There is still much work to be done to address the refugee crisis, but New York State is ready to begin immediately signing people up for work permits and connecting them to jobs so they can become self-employed.”