AUSTIN, Texas — The small border town of Eagle Pass is facing its own Del Rio bridge crisis exactly two years after thousands of immigrants illegally crossed the Mexico border and were held under a bridge for days.
The town of 30,000 residents has seen thousands of noncitizens swimming and wading across the Rio Grande from Mexican city Piedras Negras in the last several days, according to five federal law enforcement agents who spoke with the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.NEW: The crisis situation in border town Eagle Pass, Texas, has become a repeat of what happened in Del Rio two years ago this weekPhoto shared by federal law enforcement pic.twitter.
“Beginning this afternoon, CBP’s Office of Field Operations will temporarily suspend vehicle processing operations at Bridge 1 and the international railway crossing bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas in order to redirect personnel to assist the U.S. Border Patrol with taking migrants into custody," CBP said in a statement."In response to this influx in encounters, we will continue to surge all available resources to expeditiously and safely process migrants.
"Del Rio Sector has over 2K on the ground," the same agent said on Wednesday, based on the latest data available to federal law enforcement officials. "I'm seeing them walking the street with a bag in their hand. They're lost. They don't know what to do," Garza said in a phone call.