Immigration
Border Patrol opened a gate locked by National Guard to let migrants in
The incident shows the contrast in the approach that Customs and Border Protection and Texas authorities are taking with regard to undocumented immigration
August 18, 2022 4:39am
Updated: August 18, 2022 11:41am
Border Patrol agents on Wednesday opened a gate that had been locked by the Texas National Guard to allow undocumented migrants to cross the border into the United States, Fox News reported.
Fox News reporters saw the members of the National Guard close and lock the gate that was on private property along the border in Eagle Pass.
The gate had previously been open, allowing several undocumented immigrants to cross the U.S.-Mexico border through the gate.
Upon closing it, several migrants were seen standing outside of the gate, waiting to be able to pass.
Not long after, Border Patrol agents arrived at the scene with a key and opened the door to allow the migrants to cross and be processed by the U.S. immigration system.
The incident was recorded by Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin, who posted the clip on Twitter.
This was the moment Border Patrol arrived with the key and let the migrants in. The landowner allows both TX DPS/National Guard and Border Patrol to work here. The gate has always been left open in the past. TX is now closing it, & migrants have to wait for BP to be let in. pic.twitter.com/AR4S9Vn3qH
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) August 17, 2022
According to Fox News, the incident shows the contrast in the approach that Customs and Border Protection and Texas authorities are taking with regard to undocumented immigration.
“Under Governor Greg Abbott, Texas has surged law enforcement to the border under Operation Lone Star. That included a focus on stopping migrants from entering the U.S. with Texas now returning recently-entered illegal immigrants to the border, and its own border wall construction underway,” Fox News wrote.
“Border Patrol agents, meanwhile, have been increasingly made to focus on processing migrants into the interior, with migrants frequently not seeking to escape Border Patrol— instead seeking them out so they can be processed and quickly released into the U.S.,” the report continues.
In protest against the federal government’s immigration policies and the ongoing border crisis, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott has sent multiple buses of undocumented immigrants to Washington D.C. and New York City.
More than 6,000 undocumented migrants have arrived in Washington D.C. since April. “What better place for them to go than the steps of the United States Capitol?" Abbott asked at the time.