Multiple agencies working to mitigate flow of migrants at the border
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Troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety are working alongside members of the Texas National Guard hours ahead of the end of Title 42.
Joshua Rubin, the founder of the humanitarian organization Witness at the Border, said a migrant camp in Matamoros is filled with asylum hopefuls from South and Central America.
The asylum hopefuls come from places as far away as Haiti, Jamaica and China, according to Rubin, who said some of the migrants have been taking their chance trying to cross the river.
“They get across the river only to face concertina wire and automatic weapons,” Rubin said. “These are desperate people, they're not threatening in any way and they're being treated like invaders."
DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez said troopers are stationed along the edge of the Rio Grande to deter migrants from crossing the river and direct them toward a port of entry.
“We're not going to use any type of physical force, but our goal is to repel just with the mere presence of our man power, and it has been effective,” Olivarez said. “We have national guardsmen working with our state troopers trying to clear out more debris, more brush along the river so they can place more wire…now some do make it across, then we will redirect them to border patrol, and they will begin to process them.”
Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. said the county is also coordinating with local law enforcement to manage the flow of migrants
According to Trevino Jr., many of the migrants have tickets to leave the Valley by bus and plane.
“It's just a question of numbers, and if that's the issue then the federal government needs to be prepared to send additional resources to help us handle whatever overflow, or whatever over capacity we may be dealing with,” Trevino Jr. said.
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