(NewsNation) — Officials are renewing pressure on the Department of Homeland Security to address the ongoing surge in migrants after a chaotic encounter at the U.S.-Mexico border over the weekend.
Many in the crowd believed reports on social media claiming it was a “day of the migrant” celebration and they would be allowed to enter the U.S. Hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants passed through checkpoints on the Mexican side of the border, pushing their way toward the U.S.
Encounters like this are not only a safety risk for border town communities but also for migrants.
It’s a problem that the federal government has grappled with for years, but many officials feel little has been done to address the immigration crisis.
“What needs to be done in order to prevent all this is that we definitely need to have better policies in place, Jose Sanchez, the West Texas regional director of the Department of Public Safety, told NewsNation.
Sanchez said if Texas DPS, sheriff’s department and Border Patrol didn’t have the “backing” of Gov. Greg Abbott, they’d have more problems at the border.
“Thanks to Gov. Abbott, he sees a concern for our nation, he sees a concern for our state. So he’s taken the aggressive approach. And he’s been very positive in supporting us, and given us the resources that we need to protect our border, he said.
The El Paso rush wasn’t the first time migrants tried to push their way into the U.S. In September 2021, as many as 15,000 migrants, mostly from Haiti, crossed the Rio Grande at Del Rio and spent days under the international bridge, sparking a crisis for President Joe Biden.
Sanchez said Texas law enforcement patterns are constantly creating contingency plans to avoid other incidents like this.
“We’re always doing tabletop exercises to prepare for something like this. And what you saw here was a great outstanding response by our CBP officers who don’t get enough recognition for what they do. But the way they approached this, they were prepared for it. They took a great stance, they stopped it before anything could happen. And then with that, in place, they notified us and other law enforcement agencies were quickly there to respond,” he said.