(NewsNation) — Separate from the headline-making transportation of migrants to sanctuary cities farther north, U.S. Border Patrol has been overwhelmed, particularly in the El Paso, Texas, area, where a surge of Venezuelan arrivals has filled the shelters to capacity.
One shelter is at three times its normal population, and nonprofits are struggling to find both beds and volunteers, according to Border Report. “Encounters” between migrants and Border Patrol swelled to 1,400 a day.
“The reason we are in the current situation now is because the demographics have changed,” U.S. Border Patrol Acting Supervisory Agent Carlos A. Rivera told Border Report. “The great majority of migrants we are encountering now are not amenable to Title 42 expulsions and must be placed on a Title 8 pathway, which obviously requires more processing, reaching out to (community) partners to determine further custody. Provisional releases are the last option that we have.”
This week, NewsNation affiliate KTSM worked side-by-side with authorities in El Paso, Texas, reporting it spoke with one migrant from Venezuela who spoke to the news crew shortly after he surrendered to agents.
“There’s a lot of need in my country and the majority of us Venezuelans have to cross the jungle we have been traveling for a month and a week,” said German Antonio Garcia.
Migrants were moved to other sectors, both by plane and bus, to be processed to help with the bottleneck.
“We have helped other sectors before in a time when other sectors are in need and now when the El Paso Sector is experiencing an influx, now it is time for other sectors to help us,” said Carlos Rivera, a spokesman for Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector.