The Eagle Pass, Texas, fire department has been burning a whopping $21,000 a day (more than $2.2 million since mid-September) to respond to emergencies stemming from the influx of migrants crossing the southern border, according to an official from the besieged border city.
Almost hourly, first responders from the city’s fire department are dispatched to the Rio Grande or U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention facilities to address migrant-related emergencies, according to the Eagle Pass fire chief. , Manuel Mello.
“There isn’t a day that we don’t go to the riverfront to transport patients and the city picks up the cost,” Mello told Fox News.
Since mid-September, the Eagle Pass Fire Department has received an average of about 45 EMS calls per day, usually 30 of them involving immigrants, and each call costs the department $700, according to the fire chief. .
“We have all kinds of calls, from small cuts and bruises to hypothermia, heart attacks, broken bones and even childbirth,” he told the outlet. “So we transport all types of patients, and they are all immigrants.”
Since mid-September, the fire department has received approximately 45 emergency calls a day, 30 of them generally related to immigrants. REUTERS
The Eagle Pass fire department’s budget was just under $6.3 million in fiscal year 2023, which ended Sept. 30, city records show.
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzalez, whose district covers Eagle Pass, which is less than a mile from the Mexican border, previously said the federal government has yet to reimburse the city for staggering costs related to the migrant crisis.
“The city of Eagle Pass has not received any reimbursement of federal dollars,” Gonzalez told San Antonio-based station KENS5.
The Eagle Pass, Texas, Fire Department is spending $21,000 a day on migrant-related emergency calls. fake images
The US southern border has been besieged by migrants, with CBP agents encountering a record 276,000 people attempting to cross illegally from Mexico in December, according to preliminary data obtained by Fox News, which didn’t even include the final three. days of the month.
Earlier this month, more than 12,000 migrants crossed the border in a single day, and illegal crossings exceeded 10,000 on several days.
The December migrant rush got so out of control that CBP ordered the temporary closure of international rail crossings from Eagle Pass and El Paso with Mexico “to redirect personnel to assist the US Border Patrol in apprehending the migrants.” the agency said.
Earlier this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to address the current flood of migrants at the border.
U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzalez said the federal government has yet to reimburse Eagle Pass for costs related to the immigration crisis. AP
Neither side announced any specific solution to the problem, but stated they were committed to addressing the influx.
“As we made clear today in Mexico City, we are committed to partnering with Mexico to address our shared challenges, including managing unprecedented irregular migration in the region, reopening key ports of entry, and combating illicit fentanyl. and other synthetic drugs,” Blinken said. after the conference.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn