Border Patrol Uses Mobile Phones to Process Illegal Migrants in Texas Surge
As the United States continues to grapple with an influx of illegal migrants crossing into Texas, the US Border Patrol has turned to mobile phone technology to help speed up the processing of entrants. Agents are now equipped with mobile phones that allow them to immediately log biometrics and other important information, which helps expedite the processing of illegal crossers. This new technology eliminates the need for entrants to wait for hours or even days before they can be transferred to a processing center.
The end of Title 42 on May 11th has further fueled concerns for the Border Patrol, which is preparing for a massive influx of migrants. According to reports, several Texas hotspots have already seen a surge in migrant numbers, including El Paso and Brownsville, a small city near the Gulf of Mexico, where a mob of 2,000 migrants crossed the international boundary on Tuesday alone. Border Patrol agents have been busy processing entrants in an area near Texas Southmost College, using a screening procedure that checks for criminal backgrounds and takes biometric information, officially recording the entry of individuals into the country.
The migrants who are eligible to stay in the United States are given necessary paperwork and released, while those who are not are either sent back to their home countries or returned to Mexico. Brownsville is just one of the many Texas hotspots that have seen a significant uptick in migrant numbers, with El Paso leading the nation in migrant apprehensions this fiscal year, having already seen 265,000 migrants cross the border.
Mayor Oscar Leeser of El Paso is planning to issue a disaster declaration in the coming days to prepare for the anticipated crush of migrants expected to cross the border on May 11th. The pandemic-era policy currently allows the Border Patrol to immediately return asylum seekers from certain countries to Mexico, without hearing their asylum claims. With up to 40,000 migrants gathered just across the border in Juarez, Mexico, a state of emergency is expected to go into effect in the coming days.
Texas has borne the brunt of the border crisis, with over 3.2 million migrants crossing into the state since 2021, according to US Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of the Border Patrol. As the number of migrants continues to rise, shelters in El Paso, San Antonio, and Houston are at full capacity, and migrants who have exceeded the number of days they can stay at the shelter have resorted to sleeping at the airport in San Antonio.
In October of last year, New York City declared a state of emergency after 40,000 migrants, mostly from Texas, were bused into the city, putting even more strain on the city’s homeless shelters and services. The ongoing influx of migrants continues to pose a significant challenge to the United States, as it tries to manage and process the thousands of people seeking entry into the country.
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