The U.S. Border Patrol is daily releasing hundreds of illegal aliens into small communities across South Texas, posing a host of problems.
“We don’t know what’s coming in, as far as health screening, diseases, COVID-19, affecting public health and safety,” says Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin. “It’s ludicrous that the federal government would put us in this position.”
The surge comes ahead of what local law enforcement expects to be a massive wave of migrants if and when the Department of Homeland Security halts Title 42 expulsions. Currently, Border Patrol facilities in Del Rio, Brackettville and Eagle Pass are full to overflowing.
In a statement to FAIR, federal officials in the Del Rio Sector said, “Although some [Customs and Border Protection] facilities have reached capacity, CBP continues to safely, efficiently and effectively process individuals.” Newly released migrants include family units and single adults with no criminal history, but officials declined to say how many are being released.
While CBP touts its “efficient” processing, the process is anything but orderly when 30-100 migrants are dropped into small Texas towns on a daily basis. Without resources to handle the load, communities are scrambling to send migrants up the line to San Antonio, where social welfare agencies offer a suite of services, including transportation farther into the U.S. interior.
For migrants marooned in Uvalde, McLaughlin worries about not knowing who they are, and the potential for crime among swelling ranks of desperate and hungry transients.
“[Border Patrol agents] are overwhelmed, and we’re a dumping area … out of sight, out of mind,” the mayor said.
Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), speaking at a border security conference in San Antonio on March 29, suggested that the releases are another egregious example of buck-passing by the Biden administration. Noting historically low levels of removals and reduced numbers of detention beds, Homan said, “This is not mismanagement or incompetence – it’s by design.”