Shocking footage has revealed hundreds of migrants flooding over the southern border overnight after leaving a cross-country cargo train known as ‘The Beast.’
Border officials have been left scrambling after being overwhelmed by refugees in recent weeks, with the small town of Eagle Pass, Texas becoming an epicenter of the crisis as over 11,500 have flocked through in the last 10 days.
Many have travelled to the border on Mexico‘s largest railroad network, known as ‘The Beast’, which has sparked further controversy after a number of deaths and injuries were reported from asylum seekers filling the vessel to the brim.
On Friday, footage shared to X – formerly Twitter – by journalist Juan Mendoza Diaz showed hundreds of people walking into Eagle Pass in the early hours of the morning under torchlight.
As the camera panned over the migrants, many smiled and waved – and Diaz said many told him they arrived by train, despite Mexico officials announcing the halting of ‘The Beast’ this week due to a spate of injuries and deaths.
The crisis escalated overnight Friday as at least three cases of tuberculosis were reported among migrants in El Paso, Texas – almost 500 miles away from Eagle Pass.
Shocking overnight footage showed dozens of migrants pouring into Eagle Pass, Texas – a town of just 29,000 people that has seen over 11,500 refugees flood through in the last 10 days
Many of the refugees smiled and waved as the camera panned over them in the early hours of Friday morning, as they joined tens of thousands pouring over the border in recent weeks
Dozens of migrants pictured filling the cargo train, dubbed ‘The Beast’, to the brim in August
The operator of Mexico ‘s largest railroad network has partially shut down service this week following the deaths and injuries of at least half-dozen migrants who were attempting to reach the United States border. On Wednesday morning, hundreds of migrants, including children, were still seen perched atop dozens of freight train wagons
As the relentless wave of migrants continue to pour through the border, a tense back and forth has erupted between the Biden administration and Texas officials criticizing the president for a lack of action.
Rolando Salinas, the mayor of Eagle Pass, slammed Biden on Thursday after the influx devasted his town of just 29,000, seeing a surge in ‘robberies and violence’ since the refugees hit the community.
Over 11,500 migrants have flooded the town in the last 10 days, a number that is set to continue soaring as the crisis shows no signs of slowing down.
The worsening situation has led to stunning images of migrants lined up waiting to be processed, while Texas border agents resorted to using razor wire to bring the surge down.
Families were seen in eyebrow-raising images being helped through the razor wire in recent days, with many having traversed difficult terrain and waded through the Rio Grande River in hopes of making their way to the US.
A baby is pictured being passed under the razor wire on Thursday near Eagle Pass
A migrant is dragged beneath wire fencing, which has been torn down and replaced a number of times by warring officials
An aerial view shows desperate migrant families breaking through wire to enter the US
Many of the border crossings are the result of a perilous journey where migrants traverse rough terrain, wade through rivers and fill packed trains in hopes of reaching the US
Many of the migrants flooding into Eagle Pass this week are from Venezuela. Others have come from Mexico, Honduras and other Central and South American countries
The dangerous route taken by many into the US also saw a three-year-old boy die on Wednesday after he and his family were swept up in tides on the Rio Grande River near Eagle Pass, and reports indicate another middle-aged man has also drowned in the river this week.
The Rio Grande has become an epicenter of the national struggle over the migrant crisis, where Biden administration officials have been cutting down razor wire that is hastily put back up by their Texas opponents.
In footage shared by Texas ‘Border Czar’ Mike Banks, a Texas National Guard soldier was seen flinging a large portion of the wire back over the river to replace the ‘wire the Biden Admin cut yesterday.’
‘Texas will NEVER give up on our efforts to secure the border,’ Banks added in a tweet.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, an outspoken critic of the Biden administration’s border policies who has bussed at least 35,000 migrants this year to ‘sanctuary cities’, also saw a floating border on the Rio Grande torn down this month after it was deemed dangerous to border crossers.
Abbott’s attempt to both share the strain of the influx and bring the situation to national attention, despite claims Texas is far more prepared than northern cities, saw New York City Mayor Eric Adams admit to residents last week they will ‘lose’ their city without intervention.
In an aerial view, migrants are seen grouped together while waiting to be processed on the Ciudad Juarez side of the border on September 21, 2023 in El Paso, Texas
Rolando Salinas, the mayor of Eagle Pass, said there had been a spike in crime accompanying the surge in migrant arrivals
While problems at the southern border have been plaguing immigration laws in the US for years, the issue escalated significantly at the expiration of Title 42 in May, a pandemic-era border policy that altered the powers of officials to detain people crossing the border.
The day the policy expired on May 12, the number of illegal border crossings topped 10,000 – a figure that was maintained for several days.
A large number of the refugees have moved from Venezuela amid the country’s ongoing economic decline, with more than seven million residents leaving the nation of 29 million people as of February, reports The New York Times.
While the vast majority of the seven million have opted for neighboring countries, many have made their way to the US. From 2015 to 2018, only around 100 Venezuelans were stopped annually at the border.
From October 2021 to August 2022, that number stood at 150,000.
In Eagle Pass, Salinas declared a state of emergency while he pointed the finger at Biden’s weak border policies for catalyzing the issue.
‘There have to be consequences for crossing illegally,’ Salinas told The New York Post on Thursday. Salinas, a lifelong resident of his town, said it was unprecedented.
‘I’ve never seen people cross like this. 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.’
Despite the influx plaguing his community, Salinas added that he has not been contacted by anybody from Biden’s administration to offer help or assistance.
‘I haven’t heard from anybody in the administration. The president hasn’t put out a statement, the vice president. I haven’t heard from anybody,’ he said.
‘Nobody has bothered to call me or the city staff and say hey, this is the federal government, we know what you’re going through, we’re worried about you, this is our plan of action. Nothing.
‘We’re here abandoned. We’re on the border. We’re asking for help. This is unacceptable.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
