Overwhelmed Texas city declares state of emergency as over 11K migrants — close to half its population — surge across border
An unprecedented surge of 4,000 migrants streamed across the US border with Mexico into Eagle Pass, Texas, on Wednesday — forcing the overwhelmed city to declare a state of emergency.
Mayor Rolando Salinas said a separate 2,500-person mob crossed the border into the city illegally Monday, on top of approximately 7,200 illegal crossers apprehended in the previous week.
The surge is the largest since 15,000 Haitian immigrants camped out under the bridge in neighboring Del Rio, Texas, nearly two years ago to the day, officials said — an incident that resulted in a major humanitarian crisis.
Salinas said the new mob, many of them from Venezuela, has overrun Mission Border Hope, the only migrant shelter in the border city.
“One of the situations is that a lot of these [migrants], they’re single males and they don’t want to listen to instructions and they’re leaving the facility,” the mayor said.
“Not all of these people come in peace.”
He also said the huge influx over the last week — close to 50% of the city’s 29,000 population — has “taken a toll on our local resources, especially our local police force and our fire department.”
Speaking to The Post, Salinas also warned he had been told another 4,000 to 8,000 people in a number of separate groups are heading to the city.
Eagle Pass has a US Customs and Border Protection processing facility that opened in 2022 with a capacity for 1,000 people. Many of those who are currently in custody are being held in an overflow facility at one of the two international bridges in the city.
Salinas warned: “Within a day or two, we should be able to clear out the people under the bridge. But if we get another wave tomorrow, it’s Del Rio all over again.”
The crisis has also forced CBP to shut down one of the international bridges so the agency could reassign the agents who work there to help process migrants, according to Salinas, who added that the move will cost the local economy $15,000 a day in lost revenue.
Processing the migrants typically takes several days, but could take longer due to the huge influx, border sources said, adding that some people are being sent to border facilities at Laredo and El Paso to be processed — but that creates a ripple effect as they too are dealing with increased numbers of migrants.
All migrants are screened for criminal history or prior illegal entries into the US, with those who don’t pass muster marked for potential removal rather than being let in, authorities said.
Among those detained at Eagle Pass is Roberto Emilio Vasquez-Santamaria, a 64-year-old Peruvian immigrant who is charged with murder in the slaying of another man in the Texas city, Fox News reported.
Vasquez-Santamaria illegally crossed into Texas in May but was released because border officials did not identify a criminal record for him. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered him to return to court in 2025, the outlet reported.
After he was released into the community, he killed a person, although details have not been released by the local sheriff.
“It’s obviously a security issue,” said US Rep. Eddie Morales (D-Texas), whose district includes Eagle Pass.
“I am aware that there are 2,000 to 4,000 under the bridge and more are coming. We’ve also been in contact with Union Pacific [Railroad, which runs across the bridge] to make sure they are adequately providing security so that they are not crossing on the railroad tracks.
“All this to say is that there is a concerted effort to try to get a handle on this situation,” he said.
The Texas crisis is just the latest in which migrants have tested the limits of Border Patrol capabilities, encouraged by drug cartels, which take advantage of the confusion.
In West Texas, El Paso opened an emergency shelter after a rush of migrants there last week.
In Tucson, Arizona, and San Diego, California, migrants are being released into border communities as federal officials are running out of space at processing centers designed to hold them.
Last month, thousands crossed the border via 114 floodgates in Arizona that were welded open by federal officials to accommodate the migratory patterns of an endangered species of antelope and potential floodwaters.
Salinas also said at a Wednesday press conference the new emergency declaration will allow Eagle Pass to apply for federal and state aid to help deal with the sudden influx.
“This is just a measure that we have to take to make sure we maintain order here in the city of Eagle Pass,” he said. “We’re going to use that money to reimburse fire, reimburse police and any other expenses that the city has to make.
“We do have reports that there are other caravans coming to Eagle Pass, so we want to be prepared for any scenario,” he added.
