KPRC 2 crew shares what they are seeing along the Texas-Mexico border
From KPRC 2 investigative reporter Robert Arnold: We saw several people crossing back and forth between Mexico and the United States. Several immigrants told us they were staying in he camp on the Texas side but would come back to Mexico to gather donated supplies to bring back to the Texas. We saw people carrying food, water and personal hygiene products across. We did see DPS vehicles and what appeared to be Guardsmen on the Texas side of the river, making sure those who crossed did not go beyond the confines of the Texas camp.
Braulio Fernandez Ecological Park, Ciudad Acuña
From KPRC 2 investigative reporter Robert Arnold: At the camp, hundreds of families could be seen living in tents, sleeping bags, and under tarps tied to trees. People were even seen on the roof of a one story park building. Medicos sin Fronteras (Doctors without Borders) had a truck there for medical aid and Cruz Roja (Red Cross) was also there. We saw the Promise Land church show up with a truckload of personal hygiene products and there were other people in the camp cooking food for the migrants. Many said they are still hopeful they can remain in the United States. One man did say after spending two nights in the Texas camp, he came back to Mexico and will likely wind up staying there and looking for work. One thing I think is important to point out, many of the Haitian migrants who walked across the border were already living in Central and South America, some for years. Many said jobs dried up where they were and they realized their home country wasn’t getting better. There has been a political assassination and an earthquake just this year. These individuals are referred to as part of the Haitian Diaspora. This is anecdotal but many decided this summer to come to the U.S. so they tried to get as much money as they could and then coordinated travel with others.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s closure of Del Rio bridge disrupts businesses and jobs on Texas side of the U.S.-Mexico border
Federal officials have halted traffic so they can process thousands of Haitian migrants seeking asylum. The closure has made it difficult for the Texas city’s binational employees and business owners to keep normal operations going.
Options shrink for Haitian migrants straddling Texas border
Gov. Greg Abbott will hold a press conference to discuss the situation in Del Rio on Tuesday. The governor will be joined by Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, Texas Military Department adjutant Gen. Tracy Norris, and National Border Patrol Council president Brandon Judd.
Border patrol agents criticized for treatment of Haitian migrants in Del Rio as U.S. tries to dissuade more from coming
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned would-be migrants that “your journey will not succeed” and promised to investigate the actions of mounted agents at the Rio Grande.
Biden administration speeds up deportation flights for Haitians in growing Texas migrant camp
The situation in Del Rio spiraled this week as more than 15,000 migrants, many of them from Haiti, arrived at the border in recent days, settling in a makeshift camp as they waited for CBP agents to process their petitions to stay in the U.S.
Dan Patrick warns Democrats are allowing in immigrants for “silent revolution,” mirroring language of far-right extremists
Patrick’s comments mirrored a far-right theory that says political elites are replacing white populations through mass migration and demographic changes. He called the increase of migrants at the border an “invasion.”
Thanks to local politics and a railroad, rural Kinney County accounts for most of Texas’ migrant arrests
Under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security push, Texas state police have arrested hundreds of migrants in the conservative county, usually after spotting them on cargo trains or walking remote ranch lands. Sent to a state prison retooled as an immigration jail, many men were left without lawyers for weeks.
Asylum-seeking families and children made up nearly half of July border crossings: “This is young mamas and daddies trying to save their families”
Migrant crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border reached a 21-year high in July. This video takes you to the epicenter: Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, where more crossings are happening than in any other region in the country.
Texas to spend $25 million on 2-mile concrete barrier amid Gov. Greg Abbott’s push for a state-funded border wall
The barrier in Eagle Pass is the first glimpse into how much a state-funded border wall could cost. But Abbott’s office says it’s a “concrete barrier” that is separate from his border wall push.