Thousands of illegal immigrants flooded into Eagle Pass, Texas Monday, causing the U.S. southern border to set a record for the number of migrant encounters in a single day.
According to the data released on Tuesday, 14,509 illegal immigrants were encountered by federal law enforcement on Monday, breaking the previous record of 12,000 set last week, according to Fox News.
NEW! Government numbers obtained from Border Patrol show yesterday had the most-ever immigrants encountered at the southern border: 14,509. This is a phenomenon like we’ve never seen before.
26,758 in custody
5,197 in Del Rio
5,004 in Tucson
4,968 in RGV
4,722 in El Paso pic.twitter.com/wC5sDPFwHg— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) December 19, 2023
Border Patrol Agents have said that “it’s the worst we’ve ever seen.”
"It's the worst day we've ever seen."
Border agents have never seen it this bad. The invasion is intensifying. pic.twitter.com/13ADAHGqJr
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) December 19, 2023
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) described the situation in his region as “all very sad.” With 2,500 illegal immigrants arrested on Sunday, he believes that arrests will begin to decline, but stated that the way the Biden administration responds will determine the extent of that.
Tomorrow morning, rail operations at bridges in Eagle Pass & El Paso will be suspended.
Our entire southern border is being dismantled by the cartels. While mass migrant caravans pull CBP personnel off the front lines, multiple Border Patrol checkpoints have been shut down,…
— Rep. Tony Gonzales (@RepTonyGonzales) December 18, 2023
Southern states surrounding the border have reached out to the Biden administration to control the surge of illegal immigrants but have been left to deal with the issue independently.
As a result, Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) announced last Friday that she would be deploying the Arizona National Guard to help assist Customs Border Patrol agents.
On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) signed a bill that gives Texas law enforcement the authority to arrest and deport illegal immigrants caught entering the country.
“President Biden’s deliberate inaction at the border left Texas to fend for itself,” he said about the bill.
The Biden administration has yet to comment about the record broken on Monday. However, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that she and the president were offended by talk that they are not serious about enforcing the border. Instead of taking responsibility for the chaos, she blames Republicans for getting in the way of passing legislation.
Karine Jean-Pierre says she is offended when people say Biden isn't taking the border seriously — even as record numbers of illegal immigrants pour across the southern border pic.twitter.com/PNqpTPlfxA
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 19, 2023
On Tuesday morning, agents were still processing and transporting more than 4,500 migrants at the congested crossing point. More than 5,300 are in custody, and facilities are 260% over capacity.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has currently stepped in to assist Border Patrol with transporting immigrants since they have been overwhelmed in several areas.
