U.S. Customs and Border Protections had encounters with more than 300,000 unlawful migrants at the southern border in December amid a surge of people entering the country.
Ali Bradley, a correspondent for News Nation, reported at the start of the year that she received confirmation that there were over 302,000 encounters, which would set a record for the most encounters during a single month.
The previous record for a single month was set in September when CBP reported 269,735 encounters at the southern border. The agency also recorded more than 240,000 encounters at the southern border in October and November.
According to Bradley, there were more than 80,000 encounters at Arizona’s Tucson sector and more than 71,000 at Texas’ Del Rio sector, where Eagle Pass is located.
A recent video posted by citizen journalist Auden B. Cabello purportedly showed thousands of people lining up outside of Eagle Pass to enter the city, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Cabello detailed the high number of encounters at the port of entry, writing that the city “was seeing on average 1,500 daily encounters from predominantly Venezuela and Central America.”
Gov. Greg Abbott has taken multiple steps to reduce the number of people entering the state unlawfully, including signing multiple border security bills into law.
Among these bills is Senate Bill 4, which makes unlawful entry into the state a crime while also allowing state law enforcement officers to apprehend those suspected of violating the law.
Although Abbott has applauded the new law by claiming it will “stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas,” many others have expressed displeasure with the legislation.
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) posted on social media shortly after the law was signed, stating that it is “a dangerous new law targeting immigrants + everyone who looks like them.”
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has threatened to take legal action against Abbott and the Lone Star state if the law is enforced, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Brian Boynton, principal deputy assistant attorney general, sent a letter to Abbott stating that the new law “intrudes into a field that is occupied by the federal government” and “interferes with the federal government’s ability to enforce the entry and removal provisions of federal law.”
The letter adds that Abbott will have until Wednesday to confirm that the new law will not be enforced, or else legal action will be taken by the DOJ.
Despite the threats, Abbott posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that President Joe Biden is “destroying America” while “Texas is trying to save it.”
“The Biden Admin. not only refuses to enforce current U.S. immigration laws, they now want to stop Texas from enforcing laws against illegal immigration,” added the governor in his post.
