Hundreds of migrants have stormed the US-Mexico border in Texas, overpowering National Guard troops stationed there, according to multiple US media outlets.
Border officials stated on Thursday that the migrants overcame the razor wire fences in El Paso by covering them with clothing and cardboard in an attempt to climb over them and enter the United States.
The Texas National Guard apprehended the migrants and loaded them into cars for transport to an immigration processing center.
This latest incident comes amid a heated struggle between Texas Governor Greg Abbott and President Joe Biden’s administration over arrest jurisdiction for the hundreds of thousands of migrants who cross into the United States illegally each month.
Texas lawmakers approved Senate Bill 4 [SB 4], which allows state law enforcement authorities to arrest illegal migrants and state judges to sentence them to up to six months in jail or deportation. But just hours later, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals put the law on hold until further notice.
Mexico has warned that it will not accept Texas’ deportations, which Republican Governor Greg Abbott has described as an “invasion” along the southern border.
Republicans blame Biden for the recent record influx of migrants entering the United States. More than 2.4 million migrants crossed the southern US border in 2023 alone, primarily from Central America and Venezuela, fleeing poverty, violence, and disasters exacerbated by the climatic crisis.
However, US Customs and Border Protection officials reported that approximately 250,000 migrants crossed the southern border in December 2023 alone, the biggest monthly total on record.
US immigration law permits individuals to turn themselves into Border Patrol authorities to request asylum.
