A senior source within Customs and Border Protection tells Breitbart Texas that the Department of Homeland Security is not engaged in any substantive planning to confront the expected surge in migration once Title 42 is lifted per court order. Meanwhile, the source says Mexican immigration authorities are already at work to dismantle migrant camps set up along the border.
The source adds that Border Patrol sector leaders have been instructed to prepare for a surge in migrant crossings by exploring additional detention facilities and working with non-government agencies to increase shelter space. The source says most of those resources along the border are already exhausted and warns the time given during a temporary stay in the court order was squandered.
On November 15, District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered DHS to discontinue using the COVID-19 Title 42 authority to expel migrants with immediate effect. The judge subsequently granted a stay of his own order until December 21, with “great reluctance” at the request of the Biden Administration.
Although the source says no real plan to deal with the expected influx has been put forth by DHS, in Mexico, authorities are dismantling rudimentary encampments to move mostly Venezuelan migrants away from the immediate border area. One camp housing hundreds of migrants in Juarez — opposite El Paso — was razed earlier this week.
Some 500 to 600 mostly Venezuelans were removed from the camp after being offered to relocate to local shelters. Some of the migrants in the camp were waiting for the end of Title 42 enforcement, according to a human rights organization report. At its peak, the Juarez encampment held nearly 1,500 migrants. Nearly 1,000 mostly Venezuelans from the camp surged into El Paso under the premature belief that Title 42 had been cancelled before the camp was dismantled.
In Piedras Negras – opposite Eagle Pass, Texas – another makeshift camp was dismantled. The number of migrants inhabiting this encampment was unknown.
The source says Border Patrol officials are meeting with city and county leaders to plan for the anticipated influx of migrants, but without meaningful results. In Eagle Pass, local leaders warn of no ability to properly absorb another influx.
At the only Border Patrol processing facility near Eagle Pass, detention capacity is exceeded by greater than 100 percent on most days, the source says. The soft-sided shelter facility costs nearly $14 million a month.
In El Paso, local officials recently discontinued a busing program. The City also closed a migrant shelter until reimbursements are received from FEMA. During a recent El Paso City Council meeting, Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino said more than $8 million had been spent on housing, food, and transportation services since July 2022. The City says it is owed $6 million in federal repayments.
As reported exclusively by Breitbart Texas, Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 206,000 migrants who crossed the border between ports of entry in November. This represents an increase of nearly 21 percent over the record-setting 167,000 migrants apprehended in November 2021.
According to reports reviewed by Breitbart Texas, nearly 65,000 migrants apprehended in November were expelled from the country per Title 42 authority.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.
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