Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is closing entry points at the Mexican border so the state won’t be overrun as reports show thousands of illegal immigrants amassing under a bridge waiting to be arrested by Border Patrol agents.
The number of migrants waiting under the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas, doubled overnight to more than 8,200 people, Fox News reported, showing drone footage of the massive gathering.
”The sheer negligence of the Biden Administration to do their job and secure the border is appalling. I have directed the Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to surge personnel and vehicles to shut down six points of entry along the southern border to stop these caravans from overrunning the state,” Abbott, a Republican, said in a statement on Thursday.
”The border crisis is so dire that the US Customs and Border Protection is requesting our help as their agents are overwhelmed by the chaos. Unlike President Biden, the State of Texas remains committed to securing our border and protecting Americans,” the statement said.
The report said a law enforcement official said the crowd is mainly made up of Haitians and more are joining the army of migrants every minute.
The new development comes as Fox News reported on Wednesday that for two straight months – July and August – encounters with illegal immigrants surpassed 200,000.
The 208,887 encounters in August are a drop from July’s more than 212,000 encounters, but it still amounts to a 317 percent increase over August 2020, when there were 50,014 apprehensions and a 233 percent jump from August 2019, which recorded 62,707 apprehensions.
Abbott, frustrated with the Biden administration’s inability to solve the crisis at the border, has implemented a number of measures in Texas to curb illegal immigration.
He has authorized the National Guard to arrest people who illegally cross into the US and has begun raising funds to complete construction of the border wall that Biden stopped.
The White House said they are focused on the “root causes” of immigration, including poverty, corruption, violence and natural disasters, but Republicans have blasted Biden for ending many of former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies since taking office in January.
