El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents encountered nearly 7,400 migrants who crossed the border from Mexico, mostly to the city of El Paso, over the weekend. Border Patrol officials called it a “major surge” in an already overwhelmed sector of the border.
“Breaking!” El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Peter Jaquez said in a tweet on Monday. “Over the weekend, the El Paso Sector experienced a major surge in illegal crossings, with a 3-day average of 2,460 daily encounters, primarily through the downtown area of El Paso.”
Breaking! Over the weekend, the El Paso Sector experienced a major surge in illegal crossings, with a 3-day average of 2,460 daily encounters, primarily through the downtown area of El Paso. We will continue to keep the public informed as the situation evolves. pic.twitter.com/V2pOO6Y31N
— Peter Jaquez (@USBPChiefEPT) December 12, 2022
Multiplying the 2,460 daily average migrant encounters puts the total for the weekend at 7,380 migrants who mostly entered the city of El Paso. These numbers may be understated as agents must continue to process arriving migrants who may not yet be included in the early reports.
Photos tweeted by Jaquez show the massive numbers and subsequent overcrowding as Border Patrol agents attempt to find someplace to put and process the migrants. Most of these migrants will likely be released to NGOs or onto the streets of El Paso.
The tweet from the El Paso chief confirms reports Monday morning from multiple news outlets that a record-setting single group of more than 1,000 migrants crossed into El Paso during the overnight hours.
BREAKING NEWS: A huge migrant caravan of over 1,000 people crossed illegally into El Paso, TX last night, making it the largest single group ever seen in US. The city of El Paso reports Border Patrol now has over 5,000 in custody & has released hundreds to city streets. pic.twitter.com/NBoAypkZRd
— PSAFLIVE (@PSAFLIVE) December 12, 2022
The Border Patrol Central Processing Center in El Paso is currently over capacity with more than 5,100 in custody on Monday, the news outlet stated. The capacity of the facility is approximately 3,500 migrants.
A live dashboard operated by the City of El Paso shows 5,105 migrants currently in custody. The report shows the release into the El Paso Community of 892 migrants with an additional 286 released onto the city’s streets.
