Exclusives

EXCLUSIVE: Illegal Migrants Fist Bump Border Patrol Agent That Cut Abbott’s Border Wire

EAGLE PASS, Texas — Illegal migrants fist bumped and thanked Border Patrol agents for cutting through barbed wire that had been erected by Texas authorities to secure the border, the Daily Caller News Foundation observed Thursday in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently instructed Texas authorities to place more wire along the Rio Grande River to address the influx of illegal crossings. Border Patrol agents cut through the wire to take into custody a group of migrants that had crossed the Rio Grande and arrived at the U.S. side of the river.

The migrants who crossed illegally Thursday thanked Border Patrol and the U.S. after they were let in.

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The area has been overwhelmed by the surge in migrants crossing illegally, leading the mayor of Eagle Pass to declare a state of emergency.

”I want to be crystal clear – what’s happening is not the fault of the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol. They have been thrust into an untenable no-win chaotic situation. Place blame for the lawlessness at our borders where it belongs – the Biden Administration,” former acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan told the DCNF regarding the exchange.

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“If you want to stop the invasion of people, drugs, criminals, and national security threats pouring across our borders, President Biden could do so tomorrow with a stroke of a pen! We must not fall into their trap to allow the scapegoating of the Border Patrol,” Morgan added.

“It is a federal responsibility to enforce U.S. immigration laws. U.S. Border Patrol continues to enforce U.S. immigration laws. Migrants who cross the Rio Grande from Mexico to Texas are on U.S. soil and subject to U.S. immigration laws,” CBP told the DCNF. “Those who cross unlawfully are subject to the lawful pathways rule, which places common-sense conditions on asylum eligibility, with certain exceptions. Migrants who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States will be removed.”

The number of illegal migrants in Border Patrol custody nationwide surpassed 22,000 on Tuesday evening, according to internal Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data obtained exclusively by the DCNF. As of Tuesday, the Del Río Border Patrol sector, which encompasses Eagle Pass, was 280% over capacity.

Border Patrol has recorded more than 1.8 million illegal crossings at the southern border between October 2022 and August, according to federal data. In fiscal year 2022, the number of illegal crossings hit a record 2.2 million. In August, Border Patrol saw more than 181,000 illegal crossings in the region.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include comment from CBP.