U.S. workers constantly travel through the New Mexico desert to plug the “holes” created in the border fence by members of Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO) who bring migrants across from Ciudad Juárez.
Yesterday, workers repaired at least four damages created by human traffickers, also known as “coyotes” or “coyoteros,” in the approximately six-meter-high barrier located on the Anapra-Jerónimo highway.
While the flow of migrants seeking to cross the Rio Grande to turn themselves in to Border Patrol agents in the El Paso Sector has decreased since June 5, following the new accelerated deportation policy signed by President Joe Biden, thousands of migrants decide each month to pay between $3,500 and $9,000 to enter the United States through the deserts of Texas and New Mexico.
Yesterday, on the Anapra-Jerónimo highway, which leads to the international crossing between the Jerónimo and Santa Teresa ejido, metal cutters and discs were seen that have been used to create holes of up to more than one square meter in the border fence.
They ‘patch’ the barrier
One of the “holes” measuring approximately 80 square centimeters was found by workers at the international marker 351 and another was covered about a hundred meters away to the west, although multiple “patches” placed on the barrier were observed along the border.
At each cut, workers measure the spaces cut to create the custom “patch,” weld it, and then paint it copper-colored, just like the rest of the mesh.
Next to the barrier, bottles of serum and water, belts, clothing and a hood were also observed, as well as remains of cut steel and multiple footprints in the sand.
According to the latest monthly figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), during the first eight months of fiscal year 2024 – from October 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024 – Border Patrol agents in the El Paso Sector made a total of 204,206 apprehensions of irregular migrants, 38.9 percent less than the 334,392 made in the same period in fiscal year 2023.
The number of meetings in June is down
Although official statistics for June had not been released as of yesterday, the Border Patrol recorded a decrease in the average number of migrant encounters per day during June.
While in May, its agents found an average of 757 irregular migrants per day in the El Paso Sector, in June the number dropped to 484 people per day.
The decrease occurred after the proclamation issued by Biden, under sections “212(f)” and “215(a)” of the Immigration and Nationality Act, through which from the first minute of Wednesday, June 5, 2024, the majority of migrants who enter the United States irregularly are deported in an expedited manner, without the option of requesting asylum, until the average daily crossings across its entire border with Mexico reaches less than 1,500 people for seven consecutive days.
#cover #gaps #border #fence
