EAGLE PASS, Texas — Groups of migrants crossed the Rio Grande as the Border Patrol braces for the end of Title 42 enforcement. The parties forded the river and surrendered to authorities near the heart of the city on Tuesday.
The groups, numbering up to 30 in size, walked from the riverbank and surrendered to Texas Army National Guard soldiers posted in the vicinity. The guardsmen detained the migrants and arranged for their transfer to Border Patrol custody.
The crossings are significantly reduced during the daylight hours, according to law enforcement sources in the Eagle Pass area. A source within CBP says groups of more than 500 are crossing into Eagle Pass between midnight and daybreak.
The source says one group of 504 mostly Cuban migrants crossed the river north of Eagle Pass early Monday. Within hours, another group of nearly 300 crossed in the same area. Days earlier, more than 700 migrants in one group were encountered by Border Patrol on a local ranch. The source says the flow is constant and is expected to worsen once Title 42 enforcement ends per court order.
In a Border Patrol processing facility designed to hold a maximum of 1,000 migrants, the source says the number of detainees reaches nearly 3,000 on most days.
The task of transporting the migrants from apprehension points near the Rio Grande to the soft sided processing center is stretching resources to the breaking point. The source says the need to provide medical and humanitarian care in addition to processing the asylum petitions means fewer Border Patrol agents are on routine field duty.
The Border Patrol has now apprehended migrants from more than 150 different countries in the Eagle Pass area.
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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