A surge in migrant crossings at the US southern border led the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to close the international railway crossings at Eagle Pass and El Paso in Texas, starting Monday, December 18, the agency said.
The agency was shutting down the crossings to redirect resources into processing migrants, they said. There has also been a resurgence of smuggling operators using freight trains to transport migrants, according to the CBP.
The US Border Patrol in the area had reported almost 10,000 migrant encounters in 82 hours, they said on Tuesday. Over 2,000 were still awaiting processing on Tuesday evening, according to the border patrol.
This footage, captured by Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas, shows a large group of migrants awaiting processing near a rail bridge in the city on Monday night. He says in the video, “This is a disaster situation for the city of Eagle Pass.”
