EAGLE PASS, Texas — Eagle Pass has now encountered more than 17,000 migrants in just 10 days as a surge continues.
Mayor Rolando Salinas said there were 1,000 in the city Tuesday night alone, and 10 officers from the city police department were on the border as a safety precaution. He said many of the migrants are walking across the Rio Grande and crossing into the U.S. by illegal means, but they are getting processed and getting bus tickets out of the city.
"We've never had the situation we've had right now. We've had people coming in, but not this amount," Salinas said.
This comes after the federal government shut down one of the two international bridges between Mexico and Eagle Pass last week to consolidate resources and better support Border Patrol. Salinas said the city is no longer receiving the toll money from that bridge, adding the police department could be strained by the increase in migrant arrivals.
Salinas reached out to the Biden administration for help earlier in the week. He told KENS 5 that, so far, they've been disappointed.
“I got a call from Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas yesterday saying that they are looking and the situation and trying to find solutions. How vague does that sound?” Salinas said. “The only solution to this is deportation.”
Salinas couldn't say Wednesday if any migrants were being deported. He blamed current border policies for the situation, expressing concern that migrants were still being processed and put on a bus regardless of how they entered the country.
"The reason they are coming is because 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," Salinas said. "There is no consequence, there are no deportations, so they are coming and they are going to keep coming."
Sheriff Tom Schmerber told KENS 5 he had similar concerns about the situation at the border. He said the migrants are getting processed very quickly and moving out of Eagle Pass just as fast, but he still worries about the people still coming in.
“The thing that worries me, my priority is the security of the county. Not everyone is coming here to make a better life. Some are criminals. Some are running away from the law,” Schmerber said.
Salinas said the Biden administration needs to be more proactive in addressing the problem. At the same time, he says, the rest of the country needs to understand how difficult the situation in Eagle Pass is.
“This is a real situation. It’s having a direct impact on our city of 28,000 people. We are a city of limited resources, “ he said. “We feel that we are getting ignored by the federal government. The president hasn’t even put out a statement acknowledging the issue.”