Border Apprehensions Surge 400 Percent in El Paso, ‘Smugglers Try to Overwhelm Us,’ Agent Says

Migrants stand together along the U.S./Mexican border wall as they wait to turn themselves over to the U.S. Border Patrol in El Paso, Tex., on Feb. 12, 2019. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal trespassers increased by nearly 440 percent in the El Paso Sector in the past four months compared to a year ago. Local Border Patrol officials believe the human smugglers and drug cartels are trying to overwhelm the authorities in order to get more contraband through.

The El Paso Sector, covering some 270 border miles in westernmost Texas and the whole stretch across New Mexico, used to be one of the least eventful. During the slow months of October 2011 to January 2012, it averaged about 20 apprehensions of illegal border crossers a day—a rather light workload for an agent force of 2,400 (pdf).