As thousands of migrants arrive each day in the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, its mayor has taken measures to ensure discipline and order.
“There have to be consequences for crossing illegally,” Mayor Rolando Salinas told The Post, adding the city is bracing for “anywhere between 4,000 to 9,000 migrants” over the next few days.
The tiny city has been besieged by a huge influx of around 11,500 migrants in the last 10 days, a record setting surge.
For comparison, the entire Southern Border set a record when 10,000 people attempted to cross from Mexico in a single day in May.
Salinas signed a new law Thursday in anticipation of the influx, making it illegal to trespass in a local park and golf course often used by migrants to enter the city.
It will also allow local police or border officers to arrest anyone who trespasses.
“I’ve never seen people cross like this,” said the mayor, who is also a life-long Eagle Pass resident.
“If they’re going to come, they must enter through the port of entry. I know people are desperate, but this is a nation of laws.
“Our cops are overwhelmed. Our firefighters are responding to calls for care for migrants. We don’t have the resources to handle this.
“We’ve seen robberies, they’ve broken into homes.”
At the city’s Mission Border Shelter, Valeria Wheeler said they have seen an uptick in violence since the huge numbers started arriving.
She told The Post: “Mostly, we are seeing single men. From Sunday to Wednesday, we had six incidents of violence in the shelter– shoving, shouting, hitting our staff. These people rode a train to get here.
“They are deeply in survival mode. They’re here now, and they still haven’t come off of that. They’re very defensive. We’ve never had violence before.”
She added in the six previous years she’s been working with the shelter, they never had a single incident of violence.
Salinas also blamed the federal government for their lack of help. Even though 800 troops were pledged on Thursday, they will mainly help processing migrants rather than securing the border.
“It’s just disappointing to see so many people come in. I haven’t seen a plan from the Administration to try to stem the flow of people coming in illegally.”
“The city of Eagle Pass, we have a population of 28,000 people. We have 58 uniformed police officers. If it wasn’t for Border Patrol and Texas Department of Public Safety, it’d be a even more chaotic,” Salinas added.
The detention center in Eagle Pass can only hold 1,000 people but a temporary shelter under one of the international bridges has also been set up.
However, by Thursday The Post witnessed US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) resorting to releasing migrants with ankle monitors, an “alternative to detention” only used when the city’s shelters are full.
The practice is being applied in other counties and states too as border spots strain under the influx of migrants who are crossing into the country.
Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland said he knows ankle monitors are being issued across the board, saying: “Yes, 100%. That’s what we’re starting to see in Arizona, in El Paso, everywhere — it’s because there is no more bed space.”
On Thursday afternoon, migrants lined up to sign waivers so they would get a spot on a bus chartered by Texas Governor Greg Abbott – set to leave from Eagle Pass to New York City tomorrow.
The influx of migrants has also led to the closure of one of the city’s two international bridge and a rail bridge, which causes a big issue for Eagle Pass.
“With the closure of the bridge, the city is losing money. Our budget, 60% depends on the crossing of people paying their tolls. If you close the bridge, you’re hitting us in the pocket. If we’re not generating that, we can’t provide services for our constituents. It affects the economy and it affects safety,” Salinas said.