EAGLE PASS, Texas — More than 17,000 migrants had gone though Eagle Pass as of Wednesday, and Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas has already been contacting the Biden Administration for help.
A KENS 5 crew saw migrants consistently moving across the river on Wednesday. Salinas worries there are no consequences for the migrants, many of whom are from Venezuela, and the rush of migrants will only continue.
"The reason they are coming in is there is no consequence. These people are being processed, they are let loose to an NGO, and then they go about their way to San Antonio and cities across the United States," Salinas said.
Immigration Attorney Gerardo Menchaca told KENS 5 Thursday, migrants who cross the river and enter the country illegally will likely face deportation but it will be delayed. Menchaca said the border patrol is more likely to give migrants from Venezuela an opportunity to make an asylum case because of the turmoil in that country. At the same time, those cases can be hard to win and are even harder if the migrant enters illegally.
"They think it will be faster (to enter illegally) but there are consequences to coming in directly and not using a port of entry. There are penalties for that, and you will see those penalties get imposed further down the line," Menchaca said. "Anytime you don't follow proper procedure in a legal proceeding you end up in trouble."
Menchaca said most of the migrants who come in, illegally or not, will be able to get a court date to make their asylum case. That court date is currently around 21 months in the future, which gives migrants time to get help in the U.S. and even hire an attorney to help with their case.
Unfortunately, Menchaca said, most people don't win their asylum cases and they have an even worse chance when entering the country illegally.
"In about 21 months, you are going to see most of those folks getting deported," Menchaca said.
Additionally, while the U.S. doesn't have an agreement with Venezuela to return migrants, the attorney told KENS 5 Mexico does have an agreement with Venezuela to return migrants and the U.S. can hand migrants back to Mexico to facilitate that deportation.
"People get sent back from Mexico to Venezuela everyday," Menchaco said.
Menchaca said a migrant's best chance to make a successful asylum claim, and stay in the country long-term, is to use the CBP1 app to make an appointment and to use a legal point of entry.
Some officials are concerned migrants are being given false information about border policy, but Menchaca also told KENS 5 most migrants actually know about risks of entering the country illegally. Unfortunately, he said, migrants often make the choice to enter the U.S. illegally out of desperation.
"They find that staying in Mexico waiting for an appointment is unbearable. They don't have any money. They don't have food, they don't have a job, they don't have any shelter, so they enter the United States without making an appointment. That's really the motivation," Menchaca said.
> MORE ON KENS