The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have announced that starting on Monday, December 18th, they will suspend operations at international railroad crossing bridges in two Texas cities that are located along the US-Mexico border.
This decision comes in response to the recent resurgence of human smuggling organizations using freight trains to move migrants illegally into the United States. According to FOX News, the statement from CBP says that the agency's Office of Field Operations will suspend operations at the international railroad crossing bridges in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas.
With the suspension, CBP will be able to redirect personnel to assist Border Patrol agents with taking migrants into custody. The statement read, in part, "CBP is continuing to surge all available resources to safely process migrants in response to increased levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest Border, fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals."
It added, "After observing a recent resurgence of smuggling organizations moving migrants through Mexico via freight trains, CBP is taking additional actions to surge personnel and address this concerning development, including in partnership with Mexican authorities."
The decision to suspend operations comes days after thousands of migrants were seen on video, lined up along railroad tracks as a freight train passed nearly three hours south of Eagle Pass, Texas. Multiple Border Patrol sectors along the southern border have been overwhelmed as they continue to deal with unprecedented numbers of migrants.
On Tuesday, December 12th, that number topped 10,000 in a single day. The week before that, there were reportedly 12,000 migrant encounters on a single day, breaking daily records. According to the New York Post, the Biden administration continues to take heat over the southern border crisis from both Republicans and Democrats as well as state and local officials who claim the president does not give enough resources.
In response, the administration reportedly said that it is dealing with a "hemisphere-wide crisis" and has requested for more funding and comprehensive immigration reform from Congress, to fix what it calls a "broken system." The Biden administration has requested an additional $14 billion in emergency supplemental funding from Congress, which includes $1.4 billion for "shelter and services" for migrants released from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody.
That money is said to be in addition to the $800 million given to states and non-governmental organizations to help deal with the hundreds of thousands migrants already released into the United States.
The funding has been stalled in Congress as Republican lawmakers demand greater restrictions on asylum and humanitarian parole. Talks have been ongoing among Senate Democrats and Republicans and the Biden administration to try and resolve the "gridlock." Biden claims that he is "open to significant compromises."
CBP said it plans to adjust its operational plans to maximize enforcement efforts against any non-citizen of the United States who attempts to use illegal pathways or processes to get into the country as well as those who remain in the country without a legal basis.
The CBP statement read, "Over the past several weeks, CBP has made a number of operational adjustments in order to maximize our ability to respond, process, and enforce consequences. In Eagle Pass, vehicular processing remains suspended at Eagle Pass International Bridge 1. In San Diego, California, San Ysidros's Pedestrian West Operations remain suspended. In Lukeville, Arizona, the Lukeville Port of Entry remains closed."
This decision comes in response to the recent resurgence of human smuggling organizations using freight trains to move migrants illegally into the United States. According to FOX News, the statement from CBP says that the agency's Office of Field Operations will suspend operations at the international railroad crossing bridges in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas.
With the suspension, CBP will be able to redirect personnel to assist Border Patrol agents with taking migrants into custody. The statement read, in part, "CBP is continuing to surge all available resources to safely process migrants in response to increased levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest Border, fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals."
It added, "After observing a recent resurgence of smuggling organizations moving migrants through Mexico via freight trains, CBP is taking additional actions to surge personnel and address this concerning development, including in partnership with Mexican authorities."
The decision to suspend operations comes days after thousands of migrants were seen on video, lined up along railroad tracks as a freight train passed nearly three hours south of Eagle Pass, Texas. Multiple Border Patrol sectors along the southern border have been overwhelmed as they continue to deal with unprecedented numbers of migrants.
On Tuesday, December 12th, that number topped 10,000 in a single day. The week before that, there were reportedly 12,000 migrant encounters on a single day, breaking daily records. According to the New York Post, the Biden administration continues to take heat over the southern border crisis from both Republicans and Democrats as well as state and local officials who claim the president does not give enough resources.
In response, the administration reportedly said that it is dealing with a "hemisphere-wide crisis" and has requested for more funding and comprehensive immigration reform from Congress, to fix what it calls a "broken system." The Biden administration has requested an additional $14 billion in emergency supplemental funding from Congress, which includes $1.4 billion for "shelter and services" for migrants released from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody.
That money is said to be in addition to the $800 million given to states and non-governmental organizations to help deal with the hundreds of thousands migrants already released into the United States.
The funding has been stalled in Congress as Republican lawmakers demand greater restrictions on asylum and humanitarian parole. Talks have been ongoing among Senate Democrats and Republicans and the Biden administration to try and resolve the "gridlock." Biden claims that he is "open to significant compromises."
CBP said it plans to adjust its operational plans to maximize enforcement efforts against any non-citizen of the United States who attempts to use illegal pathways or processes to get into the country as well as those who remain in the country without a legal basis.
The CBP statement read, "Over the past several weeks, CBP has made a number of operational adjustments in order to maximize our ability to respond, process, and enforce consequences. In Eagle Pass, vehicular processing remains suspended at Eagle Pass International Bridge 1. In San Diego, California, San Ysidros's Pedestrian West Operations remain suspended. In Lukeville, Arizona, the Lukeville Port of Entry remains closed."
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