El Paso Border Crosser Apprehensions Up 500 Percent, Over 400 Caught in 5 Minutes

U.S. Border Patrol agents detained two large groups of illegal immigrants consisting of over 400 people within five minutes in El Paso, Tex., on March 19, 2019. U.S. Customs and Border Protection

In the time span of a mere five minutes, Border Patrol agents in El Paso, Texas, caught two groups of illegal border crossers, counting more than 400 in total and underscoring the roughly 500 percent surge in apprehensions the El Paso Sector seen this fiscal year.

Agents encountered the first group of 194 at about 2:45 a.m. on March 19 west of Bowie High School. Five minutes later, agents working further west in downtown El Paso caught the second group of 252.