The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) temporarily suspended operations at international railway crossing bridges in two Texas cities amid increased levels of illegal immigrant encounters at the border.
It said the measures were taken due to “a recent resurgence of smuggling organizations moving migrants through Mexico via freight trains.” CBP also partnered with Mexican authorities to curb illegal border crossings.
“CBP is continuing to surge all available resources to safely process migrants in response to increased levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest Border, fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals,” the release stated.
The agency pledged to prioritize U.S. border security in response to the “evolving situation.”
“Over the past several weeks, CBP has made a number of operational adjustments in order to maximize our ability to respond, process, and enforce consequences. In Eagle Pass, vehicular processing remains suspended at Eagle Pass International Bridge.
“In San Diego, California, San Ysidro’s Pedestrian West operations remain suspended. In Lukeville, Arizona, the Lukeville Port of Entry remains closed,” CBP added.
‘Continuous Groups’
Footage on social media showed a long line of immigrants at the Eagle Pass crossing. News Nation said about 2,000 were seen at the checkpoint on Dec. 18.The U.S. Border Patrol said on Dec. 15 that over the past couple of weeks, it had encountered “continuous groups of migrants led by misinformation making illegal entry into the United States.”
“The flow of migrants has been continuous since then and at one point the number of migrants staging at BSI 36 rose to approximately 150 people.
“This group was mostly composed of single adults and but also including families with children, mostly of Venezuelan origin.”
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said rail operations have been suspended at multiple ports of entry because of “an overwhelming number of migrants, worsening delays for truck drivers transporting goods and costing our economy millions.”
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) has called on the Biden administration to “put politics aside” and “deliver on policy solutions that fix this border crisis once and for all” in order to ensure national security.
“Yet again, the federal government is refusing to do its job to secure our border and keep our communities safe,” she said in a statement on Dec. 15.
Ms. Hobbs also requested that the federal government reimburse the state for more than $512 million in costs incurred as a result of “federal border inaction.”
