A migrant carries a small baby around a barbed wire fence and up a steep river bank in Texas, where he unsteadily hands the child to another man on a shipping container.
Within minutes, a uniformed federal officer arrives to help.
He lifts the others in the group of 30 as they leisurely scale the fortifications and enter the country illegally.
Next comes a visibly pregnant woman. She is led by a smuggler to the river on the Mexican side.
Nearby, Texas border patrol agents simply watch.
They know all too well that Mexican cartels and human traffickers prey on these desperate people and use their children like pawns – even posing as their parents to ingratiate themselves with seemingly sympathetic U.S. immigration officials.
Not that a harder line would do much good – they’re overwhelmed.
This is how almost everyone is done easily. Only a few difficult questions are asked. Only a small percentage is reported.
Once they arrive safely, the U.S. government transports the undocumented to charities that spend tens of millions of donated dollars to put them on buses and planes to take them to the destinations of their choice.
A migrant carries a small baby around a barbed wire fence and up a steep river bank in Texas, where he unsteadily hands the child to another man on a shipping container.
Next comes a visibly pregnant woman. She is led by a smuggler to the river on the Mexican side. (Top, middle) Aurymar Barrios, a pregnant 21-year-old from Venezuela
Shockingly, this applies to border security in Joe Biden’s America on a stretch of the Rio Grande outside Eagle Pass, where corrugated metal boxes serve as pointless barriers between the U.S. and Mexico.
Many of the thousands of migrants will make their way to cities across America, where the massive influx is suddenly causing deep concern even among liberals who once fought so passionately for their right to asylum.
And all the while, the White House brazenly insists that the president has “done more than anyone” to secure the border.
The devastating reality was documented by on a nearly week-long trip to the 1,300-mile international border from Texas to Mexico.
It proves that America’s border is wide open – and that the White House’s claims are ridiculous nonsense.
“They steal the children.” “They take their money”
“We have a crisis. I don’t care what the federal government says,” Sergeant Rene Cordova told while standing overlooking a murky stretch of the Rio Grande outside Eagle Pass.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of illegal immigrants cross here every day from Piedras Negras, a Mexican town on the south bank of the river.
Cordova and other members of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) were deployed to the area by Governor Greg Abbott to provide some semblance of security.
On Thursday, an estimated 10,000 people waded through the Rio Grande near that spot and headed to Eagle Pass within 24 hours.
Among them were hundreds of small children – a major problem for Sergeant Cordova.
“We always pay attention to children who are being exploited,” he explained. “We don’t even know if that’s her mother or her father.”
“We have a crisis. I don’t care what the federal government says,” Sergeant Rene Cordova (above) told while standing overlooking a murky stretch of the Rio Grande outside Eagle Pass.
Nearby, Texas border patrol agents simply watch. They know all too well that Mexican cartels and human traffickers exploit these desperate people and use their children like chess pieces.
In August alone, around 91,000 people traveling in family groups entered the United States illegally across the southwest border, surpassing the previous record of 84,486 at the height of the refugee crisis during the Trump administration.
‘[Mexican cartel members and human traffickers] “I know we’re not going to separate families,” Cordova says, “so they’re taking advantage of that… They’re stealing from the kids. They’re taking their money.”
There’s no way understaffed and overworked Texas border officials can check everyone, so they pick and choose.
“We don’t do a full check on all migrants… If we have suspicions, we’ll probably do one.” And then we’re probably right most of the time.’
Sergeant Cordova recalls a case in which a coyote was captured by a Texas patrol boat on the U.S. side of the river.
The smuggler “snatched one of the children” and tried to impersonate the boy’s father, but an alert DPS drone pilot saw everything go wrong and the attempt was foiled.
Certainly not all attempts.
“They just want to see what they can get away with, and if they can, they will,” Cordova told us. “They know the weaknesses better than we do.”
“MAKE ME STAND… SO I CAN BE LET IN”
In Piedras Negras we spoke to a group of migrants in front of an emergency shelter shortly before they began the crossing.
Aurymar Barrios, a pregnant 21-year-old from Venezuela, said she was traveling to Dallas with her partner Reny Olivar, 22.
“Our first hope is that we will be processed and allowed into the United States,” Olivar said in Spanish.
Barrios has cousins with children who recently arrived from Piedras Negras, and their success encouraged them to make the trip, too.
Henyer Loyo, 22, another Venezuelan in the group, said he wanted to reach Alexandria, Virginia or Washington, DC
“My biggest fear is crossing the border and being taken back,” he said. “But I expect to present myself to the border police and be processed so that I can be admitted.”
The latest statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol suggest his hopes are justified.
After a pandemic-era border policy put in place by the Trump administration was ended by a court order in May 2023, there were fears that the border would degenerate into complete lawlessness.
The rule, known as Title 42, allowed immigration officials to quickly expel illegal immigrants. But without Title 42, how would the U.S. stem historic migration from South and Central America?
The Biden White House vowed to strictly enforce a decades-old measure called “expedited deportation,” which is permitted by U.S. federal law.
In Piedras Negras we spoke to a group of migrants (above) in front of an emergency shelter shortly before their crossing.
The Biden White House vowed to strictly enforce a decades-old measure called “expedited deportation,” which is permitted by U.S. federal law.
Henyer Loyo (above), 22, another Venezuelan in the group, said he wanted to reach Alexandria, Virginia or Washington, DC
“If anyone arrives at our southern border after midnight tonight,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned of the expiration of Title 42, “they will be deemed ineligible for asylum and will face more severe consequences for illegal entry.” including at least a five-year re-entry ban and possible criminal prosecution.’
But migrants like Henyer Loyo can probably rest easy. Illegal border commuters are not expelled in significant numbers.
Customs and Border Patrol figures show that just 14 percent of undocumented migrants caught crossing in July were subjected to “expedited removal,” down from 32 percent in April, before Title 42 was repealed.
We followed the Venezuelan group a few hundred meters down the road from the shelter onto a dirt, trash-strewn path to the riverbank.
A coyote drove in front of them in an all-terrain vehicle and demanded that his photo not be taken.
The group took off their shoes and socks.
Barrios, who was visibly nervous, hesitated for a moment before wading into the water with the help of her boyfriend and another man.
A few minutes later they made it into the USA and turned themselves in to the US border police.
IT’S THAT EASY FOR A BABY TO DO IT
The crossing we observed occurred near a stretch of river where Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the state’s Border Patrol agents as part of Operation Lone Star, the state’s $9 billion project to combat the migrant surge to install a controversial 1,000-foot floating barrier.
saw first hand how completely useless the barrier was.
Several large groups of migrants crossed the shallow water just meters from where the floating wall ends. They made their way through the barbed wire and up the banks.
Even shipping containers surrounded by barbed wire on the US side hardly blocked their path.
A dramatic photo taken by a photographer shows a man lifting a small baby, wearing only a white T-shirt and diaper, onto the corrugated cardboard box.
As they struggled, a uniformed U.S. Border Patrol agent employed by the federal government arrived to help. He soon lifted migrants over the barrier himself.
Migrants illegally crossing Eagle Pass and neighboring border points are processed at a CBP facility nicknamed “Firefly.” The sprawling 14,300-square-foot site opened last year to replace a smaller facility that had become overwhelmed.
A dramatic photo taken by a photographer shows a man lifting a small baby, wearing only a white T-shirt and diaper, onto the corrugated cardboard box.
As they struggled, a uniformed U.S. Border Patrol agent employed by the federal government arrived to help. He soon lifted migrants over the barrier himself.
Those who are detained and released receive a “notice to appear,” a document requiring them to appear in court to make their asylum claim.
For some, the date is even in 2026.
After processing at Firefly, the migrants are placed in the care of charities such as Catholic Charities in San Antonio, which has received tens of millions of dollars in funding to provide services such as shelter, food and legal advice.
In an interview with , the charity’s president and CEO Antonio Fernandez said it had spent a staggering $30 million on transporting migrants this year.
“We help everyone reach their ultimate goal,” Fernandez said. “That’s what we’re trying to do.”
“People don’t want to stay in Texas, most people are going to Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York, Miami and Atlanta. “Those are the five cities that people are heading to right now.”
“Do you really think they want to fix this?”
About 300 miles southeast in the border town of McAllen, Texas, other migrants told a similar story, but with a surprising twist.
The McAllen bus station is often used by hundreds of migrants every day.
Angelica Morales, 45, from Venezuela, was waiting here with her three daughters – seven, nine and 15 years old – for a bus to Houston, where they would then travel to relatives in Indianapolis.
They had crossed the border illegally and were being processed by CBP. Her court date is July 2026, she said.
After processing at Firefly (above), the migrants are placed in the care of charities such as Catholic Charities in San Antonio, which has received tens of millions of dollars in funding to provide services such as shelter, food and legal advice.
About 300 miles southeast in the border town of McAllen, Texas, other migrants told a similar story, but with a surprising twist. The McAllen bus station is often used by hundreds of migrants every day.
Angelica Morales (above), 45, from Venezuela, was waiting here with her three daughters – seven, nine and 15 years old – for a bus to Houston, where they would then travel to relatives in Indianapolis.
Border Patrol only asked her basic questions, she said, such as the names of her contacts in the U.S. and where she was going.
They did not ask whether she had a reason not to enter through a legal port of entry or whether she had a credible fear of persecution or torture if returned to her home country.
If the “expedited deportation” rules had been enforced at all, Morales would have had to undergo this review.
Obviously that is not being done. And Sergeant Cordova is ready to throw up his hands.
“I don’t think it’s going to get better because then someone at the top would actually have to do something about it,” he told us as we finished our ride.
‘[The White House] “I know there’s a problem, but I’ve always asked: Do you really think they want to fix it?”