Illegal immigration through the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, came to a screeching halt in the lead-up to a major congressional visit, an example of just how much control Mexican cartels have over the crisis, according to lawmakers.
More than five dozen House Republicans from 26 states and one U.S. territory traveled to witness what has been record levels of immigrants crossing the border, but what they saw in southcentral Texas was far from the surge news media captured on camera in the days before New Year’s Eve.
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The 64 GOP lawmakers were greeted by a calm day on the border, unlike anything this remote town of 29,000 residents has seen in months, according to Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), who represents Eagle Pass.
“Two weeks ago, there were 12,000 people coming over illegally under that bridge,” Gonzales said during a press conference a short distance from the banks of the Rio Grande. “Right down the street, there were thousands of people in the [Border Patrol processing tent] facility that we visited earlier today.”
Gonzales said the 1,000-person capacity tent processing center outside Eagle Pass, known by agents as “Firefly” for the road it is located on, had 6,000 people on site and 4,000 “getting released” on an average day in December.
“We were at the brink of massive catch and release, and when that happens, our communities get turned upside down, and it may start here in Eagle Pass, but then it quickly reaches San Antonio, and then it quickly reaches all over the country,” Gonzales said.
“Today, that stopped,” Gonzales said. “Now, it may have to do with the fact that the speaker and 60-plus members showed up, but it stopped.”
The drop in illegal crossings came as House Republicans moved in the days after Christmas and New Year to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The House Homeland Security Committee announced Wednesday morning that it would begin proceedings on Jan. 10.
Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees in Eagle Pass told the Washington Examiner ahead of the congressional visit that they were seeing sudden sharp declines in the number of immigrants coming across the river illegally and far fewer people detained in custody.
“It was very slow today. New Year’s hangover,” one Border Patrol agent in Eagle Pass shared with the Washington Examiner on Tuesday morning, adding that the cartels responsible for moving immigrants across had likely partied hard and were hungover Monday.
Three Border Patrol agents and one ICE employee in Eagle Pass said fewer than 310 immigrants were in custody as of Tuesday afternoon.
“The amount of subjects in house went from 4,000 to 310 in a couple of weeks,” said a second Border Patrol agent.
The first agent said detainees dropped further to less than 200 people in custody by 2 p.m. local time Tuesday.
The second agent said members of Congress announcing their visit to the town a week earlier had prompted Mexican criminal organizations to stop pushing people across so that there was less for lawmakers to see during their visit.
“It’s because Congress is coming to visit,” a third Border Patrol agent said. “Wait about two days after they leave, and they’ll start to cross again. It’s almost like it’s all coordinated.”
While Eagle Pass has seen sharp drops in arrests, other parts of the border have seen sharp upticks. On the Gulf Coast of Texas, agents in the Rio Grande Valley had 4,000 people in custody Tuesday evening, while Tucson had 2,000 people in custody, according to federal figures leaked to the Washington Examiner.
But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said the situation over the past 36 months has been grim and could not be overlooked.
“It’s in less than three years that President Biden took office this has happened. We have over 7 million illegal encounters at the border, nearly 2 million known gotaways and that doesn’t count the many that are undetected,” Johnson said during his remarks in Eagle Pass. “The situation here and across the country is truly unconscionable. We would describe it as both heartbreaking and infuriating.”
House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) said the millions of illegal immigrants encountered at the southern border since Biden took office three years ago could not be overlooked.
“The greatest domestic threat to the national security and the safety of the American people is Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas,” Green said during the press conference.
House homeland security chairman Mark Green issues scathing rebuke of DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas while on border codel in Eagle Pass, Texas
“The greatest domestic threat to the national security and the safety of the American people is secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.” pic.twitter.com/Magm8Sm5dm
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) January 3, 2024
In December, Border Patrol agents arrested 68,793 illegal immigrants in the region, primarily in Eagle Pass, according to internal data that was shared with the Washington Examiner.
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The Biden administration does not disclose how many immigrants were detained or released into the United States.
The DHS did not respond to a request for comment on the sudden decline in illegal immigration into Eagle Pass.
