Eagle Pass Besieged By Migrants, Declares State of Emergency
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2023
Late in the night of Sunday, September 17, 2023, just before midnight as tens of thousands of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico citizens and authorities celebrated the 213th Independence Anniversary of Mexico at the City’s Macro Plaza with a ringing musical concert by recording artist Bobby Pulido, a large caravan of undocumented migrants from multiple nations across the world quietly marched through the main thoroughfares of Piedras Negras to the banks of the Rio Grande River at the City’s Paseo del Rio Park and slipped into the fast churning waters of the Rio Grande and crossed into the United States at Eagle Pass, Texas near the Union Pacific Railroad Bridge seeking asylum after enduring a months long journey from their home countries to the promised land of America in pursuit of the mythical American Dream.
After 18 hours of continuous stream of migrants crossing the Rio Grande into Eagle Pass, Texas on Monday, September 18, 2023, an estimated 2,500 migrants had crossed into Eagle Pass, Texas in one day, setting a record number of undocumented migrants in a single day in Eagle Pass.
The U. S. Border Patrol and other law enforcement agencies were caught by surprise with the mass influx of migrants in one single day, but quickly reacted to the challenge and began detaining, separating, and transporting the migrants to a federal migrant processing center located 12 miles north of Eagle Pass, Texas on U. S. Highway 277 at an old Army Air Field called the Radar Base by locals.
Just as the last migrants from the September 17-18, 2023 surge were being transported to the migrant processing center, a second huge wave of migrants began streaming across the Rio Grande with men and women, many whom carried young children in their arms, shoulders, or bosoms, on September 18-19, 2023, seeking asylum in the United States and surrendering themselves to awaiting U. S. Border Patrol agents, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Troopers, Texas National Guard soldiers, and other law enforcement officers underneath the City of Eagle Pass International Bridge No. 2, named the Camino Real International Bridge. An estimated additional 2,000 migrants crossed during September 18-19, 2023, raising the total to an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 in a three day span.
The City of Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. and Interim City Manager Ivan Morua met with City Police Chief Federico Garza, Fire Chief Manuel Mello, Emergency Services Director Jesus Rodriguez, and federal and state law enforcement authorities to assess the situation and develop a rapid response to the mass migrant surge.
Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. declared a Local State of Disaster Emergency due to the migrant surge at a hastily called press conference at City Hall on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, activating the City’s Emergency Management Plan and requesting funds from the State of Texas and U. S. federal government to manage the emergency.
The following day on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, Mayor Salinas signed an Affidavit authorizing the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and all other law enforcement authorities remove anyone from the City-owned Shelby Park. Salinas’ Affidavit states that Shelby Park “is restricted from access to those who would enter directly from the riverbanks of this property or who did not enter the property from designated entry points. I hereby do grant permission to members of law enforcement or those working with them, who are enforcing this prohibition and all other laws of the state of Texas to be on the premises described and will have the authority to remove anyone present without the authorization in accordance with the laws of the state of Texas.” This will allow DPS Troopers and Texas National Guard soldiers authority to arrest any migrants found at Shelby Park as well as allow the state agencies the opportunity to regain and control the public park. A previous Affidavit in May of 2023 by Mayor Salinas was rescinded by the City Council.
Simultaneously, the U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Laredo Sector announced its decision to temporarily close the City of Eagle Pass International Bridge No. 1 to vehicular traffic only effective Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 6 p.m. while leaving the bridge open to pedestrian traffic. The reason for the temporary closure of the Eagle Pass International Bridge No. 1 was the significant influx of migrants in the region and near the Port of Eagle Pass. CBP, however, did announce that Eagle Pass International Bridge No. 2, called the Camino Real Bridge, will remain open 24 hours, seven days a week to all forms of traffic, including vehicular, commercial vehicles and trucks, buses, motorcycles, and pedestrians.
Mexico’s Ferromex railroad company announced on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, that it was temporarily suspending the operation of 60 different trains that travel to the U. S.-Mexico border since many of these migrants utilize their freight trains to travel from southern Mexico to the U. S.-Mexico border. Ferromex runs trains through Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico using the Union Pacific Railroad Bridge in Eagle Pass. Union Pacific is part-owner of Ferromex.
President Joe Biden is sending 800 U. S. soldiers to the U. S.-Mexico border to assist the U. S. Department of Homeland Security process the migrants and maintain the integrity of national security.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott will also be sending additional DPS Troopers and Texas National Guard soldiers to the border to strengthen its existing forces due to the mass influx of migrants. Many DPS Troopers have arrived in Eagle Pass and have been stationed at the river bank of the Rio Grande along Shelby Park and the Eagle Pass Golf Course with their patrol cars parked shoulder to shoulder with their lights on to deter migrants from deciding to cross into the United States.
The Non-Governmental Organization, Mission: Border Hope, was requested by Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. to immediately open its new 20,000 square foot migrant processing center on Thursday, September 21, 2023, in lieu of the emergency the City of Eagle Pass is experiencing, requiring the NGO to cancel its grand opening reception in order to open its doors.
Mission: Border Hope Executive Director Valeria Wheeler told the Eagle Pass Business Journal that the newly opened migrant processing center received over 1,000 migrants on its first day, Thursday, September 21st. Wheeler noted that about 800-900 migrants were processed and boarded on charter buses to transport them to cities outside the state of Texas such as Washington, D. C., Chicago, Philadelphia, and others. Approximately 180 migrants, mostly families with small children, remained on Thursday, September 21st, to spend the night at the migrant shelter until the following day.
As of Thursday, September 21, 2023, the City of Eagle Pass has seen over 7,000 undocumented migrants crossed the Rio Grande since Sunday, September 17 with intelligence reports showing additional migrant caravans in Mexico and Central America destined to appear at its doorstep within the immediate foreseeable future.
The mass influx of migrants has caused stress among the community’s resources as the only medical hospital in the city reports being flooded with migrants requiring emergency services, causing delays in the wait time for emergency medical services to be provided to local patients. The Eagle Pass Fire Department has received a significant increase of ambulance service calls and water rescue emergency calls from migrants found in the community. Two migrant minor children have drowned in the Rio Grande during the last week while attempting to cross the river with their families. The Eagle Pass Police Department is working overtime to maintain the security and safety of its citizens with so many migrants released into the community walking on the streets after being processed by the U. S. Border Patrol.
The Maverick County Sheriff’s Department reported one homicide case of a U. S. citizen from Houston, Texas at a local subdivision who allegedly received blunt force blows to his body and that a suspect has been arrested who is an undocumented migrant from Peru. The case is under investigation.
The Eagle Pass Border Coalition, a non-profit group, advocates for border security without cruelty and that the human and legal rights of all migrants be respected and treated with dignity. The Coalition requests that the marine buoys in the Rio Grande be removed by Governor Abbott, all the razor sharp concertina wire along the Rio Grande banks be removed, and the metal storage containers parked shoulder to shoulder on the banks of the Rio Grande be removed.
Another non-profit group, the Rio Grande Memorial Vigil, holds monthly vigil services for all the persons who have died crossing or attempting to cross the Rio Grande.
Eagle Pass is unquestionably besieged by the migrant surge that commenced on September 17, 2023 and continues until today and in the immediate foreseeable future. Eagle Passans call upon Congress to reform the American Immigration Laws and provide funding for all communities affected by the influx of migrants.
