With a major influx of migrants being detained by Border Patrol agents in Del Rio, Texas, a reporter captured footage Sunday of an estimated 46 additional migrants crossing the border.
The footage, shared by Fox News National Correspondent Bill Melugin, show illegal immigrants from Venezuela making their way over the Rio Grande and into U.S. territory. Allegedly, law enforcement instructed the reporter that “this is one of the biggest groups they’ve ever apprehended.”
Local law enforcement says this is one of the biggest groups they’ve ever apprehended. Some of the Venezuelans told me they fear the VZ government. One man told me he & his family crossed into Colombia, flew into Mexico, then took a bus to crossing point where we are. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/yFwgMXXh74
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 9, 2021
The Border Patrol witnessed more than 68,57o migrant encounters from October to March, four times more than a year prior in the same time period. Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez, a Democrat in Val Verde County, told San Antonio Express-News “this is the worst we’ve seen it as far as the migrants” and that “[i]t’s been terrible.”
“It’s causing a lot of hardship to our community, to local resources, to our federal partners,” Martinez added. “This is going to continue until some policy is put in place that prohibits this activity and allows these immigrants a path for citizenship.”
Two weeks ago, agents detained over 5,200 migrants around Del Rio. 740 migrants came per day. Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar of Laredo, Texas said Monday “[t]here is a darker side” to the border crossings.
“In Laredo, you have people that are trying to evade, single male adults, you got stash houses, you got people that are being crammed in the 18-wheelers,” Cuellar told USA Today. “So a lot of times, people only see the one that pulls at our heart, and that is the unaccompanied kids and the family. But what about the darker side? There is a darker side.”
Laredo is also a key city for border crossings. Agents raided a Laredo stash house filled with 25 illegals on Friday that was 94 degrees. More than 180 migrants were apprehended on May 4 and Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Carl E. Landrum said the people were being held “against their will.”
The Biden administration has continually deflected on why Vice President Kamala Harris, appointed by President Joe Biden as the diplomatic liaison on the border, has yet to visit the southern border amid a significant surge.
