- In new footage shot at the border last month, members of the Texas National Guard are seen struggling to defend themselves against migrants
- Eagle Pass has become a flashpoint in the refugee crisis as a record number of crossings have taken place
Texas National Guardsmen were seen using riot shields to stop a horde of migrants crossing Eagle Pass.
New footage from a clash a month ago shows guards narrowly avoiding a rockfall as they battle the steady stream of asylum seekers.
A record number of migrants have crossed the Texas border in recent months, with 14,000 making it in 24 hours last month.
The video shows the reality on the ground: Asylum seekers scrambling over barbed wire and through mud in their desperate attempt to get to the USA.
Meanwhile, the Texas National Guard tries to block their path with plastic shields.
At Eagle Pass, Texas National Guardsmen were seen using riot shields to hold back migrants
The guards tried to block the path of asylum seekers climbing over the barbed wire into the United States
As they push the crowd, which includes at least one child, a stone is thrown at the head of a soldier who narrowly misses him.
At one point you can see a migrant being pushed back over the guards and falling onto other screaming migrants.
As soon as the guards have closed the gap, another one appears further along the border, through which two more migrants can slip through.
Another clip shows a migrant who managed to be thrown to the ground by the National Guard.
When he gets up, he is escorted to a waiting crowd that has apparently already crossed the border.
Eagle Pass has become a flashpoint in the refugee crisis as the city struggles to accommodate the steady influx of people arriving from across the Mexican border.
Border guards in the city lacked space to process the huge numbers and held them in a makeshift storage center in an open field for up to several days at a time.
Elsewhere, Border Patrol agents normally stationed at road checkpoints en route to the U.S. were also diverted to assist in Eagle Pass.
Eagle Pass has become the focal point of the refugee crisis. Last month there were 14,000 encounters with asylum seekers at the gate in just one day
National Guardsmen narrowly escaped being hit in the head by a rock thrown at them by the migrants
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has sent more than 100,000 migrants who arrived in the state to sanctuary cities as part of Operation Lone Star
Earlier this week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an emergency order allowing him to take control of a large public park on the Rio Grande without prior permission.
The park is a new point of tension in Eagle Pass, where large waves of arriving migrants last month temporarily closed a railroad crossing and overwhelmed shelters.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visited Eagle Pass on Monday, days after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson toured the border town.
However, Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas questioned why the state closed the 50-acre park now, as daily fears in the area have declined in recent weeks.
Shelby Park borders the river, has a boating ramp, and was used by the state to store vehicles and equipment for its border mission called Operation Lone Star.
Launched by Abbott in 2022, Operation Lone Star involves the state busing thousands of migrants from Texas to so-called sanctuary cities such as New York, Chicago, Washington and Denver.
According to the governor, more than 100,000 migrants have been sent to such cities since its introduction.