Drone footage captured in Mission, Texas shows at least 1,000 migrants being held under a bridge by border patrol after illegally crossing into the United States.
The migrants are seen sitting under Anzalduas Bridge in the footage captured Sunday by Fox News.
NEW: This is the largest group of migrants we’ve ever seen being held by Border Patrol under Anzalduas Bridge in Mission, TX. Looks like it could be up to 1,000 people. We can only get a look at the area with our drone. There’s a popular Rio Grande crossing area nearby. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/AsAygsO966
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) August 1, 2021
NEW: Our FOX drone is currently over Anzalduas Bridge in Mission, TX where a massive group of hundreds of migrants are waiting to be processed out in the heat. Local Border Patrol stations in the McAllen area are extremely over capacity. Over 3,000 in one day on Friday. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/IRwttFGkuF
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) August 1, 2021
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) tweeted pictures of scores of migrants sitting under the bridge.
More than a million illegal immigrants have arrived at the southern border in 2021, Cuellar warns.
Our DHS agents, & border communities, are overwhelmed & must be prioritized. DHS will again encounter over 180,000 immigrants at the southern border during July—adding to the more than 1M immigrants that have arrived at the southern border in FY21. Something has to change! pic.twitter.com/VszU8txBEN
— Rep. Henry Cuellar (@RepCuellar) July 31, 2021
Border Patrol agents have run out of space in detention centers and have resigned to processing the migrants under the bridge, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) reveals.
Yesterday in McAllen: @CBP overwhelmed. No room to process illegals inside, so have to wait outside under bridge. Just in 24 hrs in 2 stations, encountered over 3,400 (1700 MCS & 1300 RGVS). Currently holding over 7,000 illegals w/ some 5,000 waiting… #BorderCrisis (1/5) pic.twitter.com/idbJf0cxHR
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) July 31, 2021
Migrants sitting under the bridge after illegally entering the US are not waiting in vain. Many of them can look forward to spending months in “free” hotel rooms at the expense of the American taxpayer.
In January, the Biden administration allocated $86 million to house migrants crossing the southern border in hotels.
Illegal immigrants can also look forward to” reuniting” with their families in states across the country by obtaining free plane tickets offered by the Biden administration.
After the number of illegal immigrant minors in federal custody has more than tripled to 7,000 in February, Health and Human Services instructed ICE to “purchase airplane tickets and cover other transportation costs for minors whose relatives are already living in the United States,” the Washington Post reported in February. In response to the migrant influx,
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also instructed ICE “to help transport migrants northward so they can be processed and released.”
Subsequently, scores of illegal immigrants have been seen in airports along the southern border holding manilla envelopes that contain travel information, cash and supplies to help them reach their next destination.
#BidenBorderCrisis: Approx 40% of the airport traffic this morning at Texas’ McAllen International appear to be migrants headed within the US.
They are carrying boarding passes & paperwork that indicates they do not speak English. pic.twitter.com/7bT7UwYhUS
— Jenn Pellegrino (@JennPellegrino) March 27, 2021
The Biden administration also plans to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to cover the cost of lawyers to represent migrants who have illegally entered the country.
Biden’s proposed immigration plan asks Congress to appropriate $15 million to cover the cost of private lawyers for “families and vulnerable individuals,” and an additional $23 million to fund legal orientation programs for migrants that would be administered by the Justice Department.
Footage of the migrants housed under the bridge comes as Republican Governor Gregg Abbott faces a legal battle against the Biden administration as the Department of Justice attempts to facilitate the smuggling of migrants.
Last week, Abbot issued Executive Order GA-37, barring the ground transportation of migrants in Texas. The order instructs the Texas Department of Public Safety to stop any vehicle suspected of carrying migrants, reroute them to their origin or impound them, a move that would prevent human smugglers from packing migrants into dangerously overloaded vehicles.
In response, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Friday to block state troopers from stopping migrants. In a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District in El Paso, the DOJ warns Abbott’s executive order interferes with the federal government’s ability to deal with immigration.
The Biden administration’s refusal to enforce immigration law “has created a constitutional crisis between the federal government and the State of Texas,” Abbot warned Friday.
“This stems from the Biden Administration’s refusal to enforce immigration laws and allow illegal immigrants with COVID-19 to enter our country,” he said. “This crisis also extends beyond the border as deadly drugs like fentanyl infiltrate our communities. This already dangerous situation continues to deteriorate as the Biden Administration knowingly imports COVID-19 into Texas from across the border—willfully exposing Texans and Americans alike. President Biden has a duty and a responsibility to protect and uphold our nation’s sovereignty, yet he has long-since abdicated his authority to do so.”
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the number of migrant families they encounter at the border is dramatically increasing every month. At least 55,805 migrant families with children crossed the border in June, a 25 percent increase compared with 44,746 in May.
