Over 73,000 migrants crossed the southern border in the last 10 days according to the US Border Patrol — who admitted a further 17,000 illegal “gotaways” avoided detection and entered the country as things reach a fever pitch ahead of the end of Title 42 on May 11.
22,220 people had been apprehended at all US borders in the last 72 hours, tweeted US Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz on Monday.
He also said another 51,560 migrants were caught at the border in the previous week.
Thousands of people are handing themselves in daily to agents at the southern border in attempts to claim asylum and start a new life in the US.
Most are processed and sent back over the border under Title 42, a pandemic-era policy which allows Border Patrol to immediately send citizens of many countries back to Mexico.
However, this takes time and puts a huge strain in resources along the border.
Customs and Border Protection confirmed in the same time frame at least 16,985 people were recorded as gotaways — who were either spotted by agents or caught by motion sensor cameras but unable to be apprehended.
Officials have said this scene provides a preview of what is to come when Title 42 ends.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Monday the federal government is expecting up to 13,000 illegal immigrants to cross the US-Mexico border each day after it expires.
Responding to Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot, who pleaded with him to stop busing migrants to her city, Abbott wrote: “This is not a Texas problem — this is a problem for the entire United States of America.
“To provide much-needed relief to our overrun border communities, Texas began busing migrants to sanctuary cities … Until [President] Biden secures the border to stop the inflow of mass migration, Texas will continue this necessary program.”
In Brownsville, Texas, and surrounding areas, 6,371 migrants were taken into custody last week, the agency confirmed. The feds turned a college baseball field into an outdoor processing center, as thousands of migrants turned themselves over to authorities.
In El Paso, Texas — the epicenter of the border crisis — officials expect anywhere between 12,000 to 40,000 migrants who have been waiting on the Mexican side to cross into the city when Title 42 ends. The city has started building a third intake center for processing migrants in the city and called in extra resources to help deal with the expected influx.
On Sunday city blocks in El Paso were lined with migrants sleeping on the streets near a downtown church, Sacred Heart, according to video posted on social media.
“May 11, they believe, will be the day that they can — without any documentation — they can come into the United States and to continue to move on,” said El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser Sunday. “Which is really one of the furthest things from what’s going to happen.”
“We’re not opening the borders, and the borders are not open today, and they will not be open on May 12.”
In the meantime, migrants continue to stream over the international boundary. While many are fleeing failing states and political and economic uncertainty, cartels and criminal influences are among them.
Agents said in the last ten days there were able to stop 19 sex offenders, six gang members and one convicted murder from entering the country.
In that time, the feds also seized over 2,624 pounds of drugs, including:
The statistics are for both southern and northern US borders, according to Border Patrol.