EAGLE PASS, Texas — In the days before Title 42 was set to end last month, The Biden Administration acknowledged what could be tens of thousands of migrants trying to cross the border each day when the pandemic era policy came to an end.
Now, almost a month after Title 42 ended, the number of migrants trying to enter the U.S. is much lower than expected, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Eagle Pass has been a hot spot for migrant crossings over the last year, at one point surpassing El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley.
The Del Rio Sector Border Patrol Chief, Jason Owens, said before Title 42 ended, agents were encountering between 3,000 and 4,000 migrants a day across the sector that runs from Del Rio to Eagle Pass. In Eagle Pass, agents often saw large groups of sometimes up to 500 migrants.
However, in the last month, Owens said the numbers have decreased to 600 to 800 migrant crossings a day.
“We are seeing a very significant decrease. However, it's not enough. We want to keep those numbers going down even more so,” said Owens.
Just south of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, our cameras caught a much smaller group of migrants on Wednesday as they waited for transport to the Customs and Border Protection soft-sided facility a few miles from the city.
Owens said migrants taken into custody in the sector are taken to the facility for processing, then they are bussed to Laredo where a plane will be waiting to transport the migrants to Mexico or back to their country of origin.
These repatriation flights are not happening in the Del Rio Sector despite an airport and Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, according to Owens.
Owens said the decrease in crossings is most likely due to that fact that the message has spread to potential migrants that if they try to enter the U.S. illegally, the penalties are severe, including facing criminal prosecution for trying to enter again within five years.
“I do think that the migrants are getting the message that it's more important now than ever to use the pathways that we've created to come into the country legally. There's consequences on the legal side and there's consequences on the humanitarian side, the dangers that are associated with making that journey illegally,” said Owens.
Another message, Owens attributes to the decrease in crossings, is that word has spread about the dangers of making the journey to the U.S., and placing their lives in the hands of human smugglers.
“They can find themselves locked inside of tractor trailers or containers on trains abandoned out in the middle of the desert with no water, no food, and no idea where they are by these callous smugglers who don't see them as humans,” said Owens. “They see them as cargo. They see them as a means to make money. And, they have no qualms about letting these folks die.”
Meanwhile Governor Greg Abbott has vowed to ramp up security along the border which was evident in Eagle Pass on Wednesday.
A massive wall of shipping containers lines the riverbank in Shelby Park, in addition to rows and rows of barbed wire meant to deter migrants from crossing in those areas.
“We advise them there’s a barrier here, and this is a criminal trespass area,” said DPS Sgt. Rene Cordova. “We advise them not to come on the property, if they cross the barrier they could be arrested for criminal trespassing here in Texas.”
Cordova explained that single adult migrants arrested for criminal trespassing are transported to facilities in Del Rio or Eagle Pass to be magistrated, then turned over to CBP custody.
He said family units are not arrested for criminal charges, and turned over to federal custody.
“We don’t want to split families,” said Cordova.
Abbott has also sent hundreds more DPS Troopers and National Guard Soldiers to patrol the border as part of what he’s calling a New Tactical Border Force.
Joining the state deployed forces, Florida State Troopers have been sent to help with border security, along with law enforcement from other states like Iowa and South Carolina.
Owens said Border Patrol agents are seeing mostly migrants from Mexico and Central America, and they are often single adults.
However, Owens said agents are still seeing unaccompanied children and families.
As the summer heat is moving in, Owens said he hopes migrants will choose a legal pathway to enter the U.S.
“With the summer months approaching, that's when the migrants really find themselves in danger,” said Owens. “Last year we had 256 migrant deaths that we know of in this sector alone.”