U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported more than 14,000 encounters with unlawful migrants at the southern border on Monday, which would set a new record for the highest number of encounters in a 24-hour period.
Anna Giaritelli, a Homeland Security & Immigration Reporter for the Washington Examiner, posted on social media on Tuesday that there were 14,509 encounters at the border the day before.
This report comes amidst a growing crisis at the southern border, with high numbers of unlawful migrant encounters being consistently reported by CBP.
Lt. Chris Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety stated less than two weeks ago that there were 12,000 encounters during a 24-hour period, which was a record-high number at the time.
Similarly, CBP reported that there were 2,063,692 encounters at the southern border during the 2023 fiscal year, a number that has increased every year since 2020.
The high number of arrivals has prompted multiple actions from CBP, including the temporary halt of operations at the international railway crossing bridges in Eagle Pass and El Paso, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The halt in operations, which began on Monday, is due to “a recent resurgence of smuggling organizations moving migrants through Mexico via freight trains,” according to a press release from CBP.
CBP added that it will be “taking additional actions to surge personnel and address this concerning development, including in partnership with Mexican authorities.”
Similarly, Gov. Greg Abbott took action on Monday when he signed multiple border security bills that were passed during the special legislative sessions this year, as The Dallas Express reported.
These bills will provide funding for a wall along the Texas-Mexico border, increase penalties for human smuggling, and make it a criminal offense to unlawfully enter the state from a foreign nation.
In a post on social media, Abbott stated that these new laws will help to “better protect Texans AND Americans from Biden’s open border policies.”
Despite the support from Abbott, others are less excited about the new laws.
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) posted on social media shortly after the bills were signed, writing that one of the new laws, Senate Bill 4, is “a dangerous new law targeting immigrants + everyone who looks like them.”