Thousands of migrants have been camping under a bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas, although watching the city’s live feed it would not be possible to tell where the overflow facility is obstructed by a giant black box.
The disruption was visible in live footage shared by the border city, which saw an unprecedented surge of about 4,000 migrants on Wednesday, prompting officials to declare a state of emergency.
“I am aware that there are between 2,000 and 4,000 [migrants] under the bridge and more are coming,” Mayor Rolando Salinas told The Post on Wednesday.
“We have also been in contact with Union Pacific [railroad, which runs across the bridge] to make sure they are providing adequate security so they don’t cross the railroad tracks.”
The bridge houses an overflow facility, as the city’s only operational CBP processing facility has a capacity of only 1,000 people.
US Border Patrol agents process hundreds of migrants under the International Bridge II in Eagle Pass.AP
Salinas said he hopes to “get people out under the bridge,” but worries that another daily surge of migrants in a seemingly endless flood will result in disaster.
“But if we have another wave tomorrow, it will be Del Río again,” he said, referring to the 2021 incident in which 15,000 Haitian immigrants camped under the bridge in neighboring Del Río, Texas.
The latest increase is the latest in a shocking stream of migrants who have been crossing illegally into the border city for weeks.
Around 4,000 migrants are camped under the bridge.AP
A separate group of 2,500 people entered on Monday, in addition to approximately 7,200 other illegal crossings stopped the previous week, according to Salinas.
He also said that the huge influx in the last week (about 50% of the city’s 29,000 residents) has “taken a toll on our local resources, especially our local police force and our fire department.”
The mayor remains concerned that between 4,000 and 8,000 more people are heading to the city in different groups.
The new emergency declaration issued by Salinas will allow Eagle Pass to apply for federal and state aid to help deal with the sudden influx.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn