Border Patrol agents have apprehended a staggering 19,400 migrants at the border in Lukeville, Arizona, as officials continue to struggle to stop the record influx.
John R. Modlin, the chief patrol agent in the Tuscon sector of the border, said on Friday The nearly 20,000 arrests included 13 human smuggling incidents, 15 rescue operations, six drug incidents, four convicted sex offenders and 155 federal criminal cases.
A total of 192,000 migrants were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border last month, an increase from the 188,000 in October, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens told CNN.
The latest wave of migration is driven primarily by people from Africa and Ecuador, the vast majority of whom are single adults Newsnation reporter Ali Bradleywho shared stunning footage of a large number of migrants being ushered through a port of entry in Lukeville.
Migrants walk near the banks of the Rio Grande river after crossing the border into Eagle Pass, Texas, one of several border towns affected by the huge influx of migrants this year
The official border crossing into Lukeville, Arizona is closed and local businesses are on the brink of closure. A border official said a staggering 19,400 migrants were detained in the city this week
The latest wave of migrants crossing the border in Lukeville, Arizona (pictured) is reportedly made up of a majority of single adults from Ecuador and Africa
AZ: A group of more than 300 people are brought by Border Patrol to the port of Lukeville for transport/processing – most are from Africa and Ecuador and are single adults. @USBPChiefTCA reports a record 19,400 arrests in this sector in a single week.
Agents down here say… pic.twitter.com/PgbNWEkqK4
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) December 22, 2023
Congress has been locked in a hostile dispute all year over how to calm the crisis at the border and will now head into a Christmas recess with details still to be worked out.
But Bradley said no
As Lukeville struggles to handle the influx, President Biden earlier this month ordered the closure of all railroad crossings in Eagle Pass and El Paso, both in Texas, so that border agents can be redirected to other ports of entry.
However, this has done little to stem the tide, as agents are overwhelmed in many high-immigration locations that continue to receive more than 10,000 asylum seekers each day.
Amid allegations that Mexican officials could help transport migrants to the U.S., officials whose job is normally to regulate traffic at border crossing points have been moved elsewhere.
Honduran migrant Arile Nunez, 25, bottle feeds her 8-month-old son Edwin as they walk near the banks of the Rio Grande after crossing the border from Mexico into Eagle Pass, Texas
Nancy Guzman, 40, comforts her daughter, Jackeline Hernandez, 18, as she is detained by Border Patrol after wading across the Rio Grande
The staggering number of migrants crossing the border each day is nearly unprecedented, only reached in the days leading up to the expiration of Title 42 — a pandemic-era immigration policy — in May.
Title 42 gave officials greater authority to detain and redirect migrants at the border, and when it ended there were fears that the last “meaningful, real plan” to control immigration had been thwarted.
As experts warn the southern border is nearing “breaking point,” Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador held a phone call to discuss how to stop the crisis.
Both reportedly agreed that more needed to be done south of the border to stop the never-ending wave of migrants, many of whom are traversing difficult terrain and crossing multiple borders in the hope of ending up in America.
A mix of emotions – joy and relief – for Honduran migrants who had completed a months-long journey to the United States and entered illegally at Eagle Pass, Texas
Migrants are lined up by border patrol officers on the banks of the Rio Grande after crossing the border into Eagle Pass
A family from Honduras makes their way from Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, across the Rio Grande to the United States
A convoy of migrants wades across the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, carrying everything they have across the water
While the recent wave of migrants has reportedly arrived from Africa and Ecuador, this year a significant portion of those who have crossed the border have moved from Venezuela.
The country has been hit by severe economic problems in recent years, and as of February this year more than seven million residents had left the country of 29 million.
While the vast majority of the seven million chose neighboring countries, many made their way to the USA. From 2015 to 2018, only about 100 Venezuelans were stopped at the border annually.
From October 2021 to August 2022, this number was 150,000.
As problems at the border have brought train service to towns like Eagle Pass to a standstill, the local economy is now bearing the brunt.
A long line snakes across the gravel at the Lukeville processing center after hundreds of migrants crossed the border
Aerial photo shows migrants climbing over shipping containers and barbed wire in Eagle Pass after crossing the Rio Grande
According to the Texas Association of Business, Eagle Pass and El Paso alone account for $33.95 billion in annual trade and 36 percent of all cross-border rail traffic.
“This is a short-sighted, half-baked decision that will do nothing to stop illegal migration, but will cause economic harm to ordinary Americans,” said Chief Executive Glenn Hamer.
Railroad company Union Pacific said 45 percent of its U.S.-Mexico railcars passed through the two border crossings and there was not enough capacity at the other four entry points to reroute them.
“Every day the border is closed, Union Pacific is forced to embargo its customers’ goods on more than 60 trains or nearly 4,500 rail cars, with the equivalent value of the goods held in Mexico,” it said.
The company said this would impact trade in grains in six Midwestern states, beer and dry foods, sales of vehicles and their parts, consumer goods and industrial goods such as metals and cement.