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Texas Sheriff Says Migrants Have Been Peaceful, But Residents Are Afraid

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A Texas sheriff said Thursday that migrant family units crossing the border have been peaceful, but noted his county’s residents are afraid.

“The citizens of my community, they’re concerned. They’re afraid. I had a meeting with them almost two weeks ago near the location where all these immigrant are coming across,” Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez of Val Verde County said on “Fox and Friends.”

“Now, they are concerned. They want to know what is their right to defend themselves and stuff. So, you know, I just try to ease their calm. Because a lot of these people they’re basically family units and they’ve been peaceful to this point,” Martinez said.

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Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said migrant apprehensions at the southwest border could set a 20-year-record, according to a March 16 DHS statement. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) migrant family unit apprehensions increased from 7,294 in Jan. 2021 to 19, 246 in Feb. 2021, according to CPB data.

Martinez said Mexican who cross the border mostly get returned to their home country, but migrants from other countries are released into the U.S. The Texas sheriff said migrants from other countries are heading to their destinations.

“They’re all being processed and sent on to wherever their destination is,” Martinez said.

The DHS secretary said although some families and single adults are being rejected from the southwest border in accordance with Title 42, unaccompanied children aren’t getting turned away at the border, the statement said.