As migrants overwhelm a Texas border city, others wait in Mexico for appointments to enter the US
EAGLE PASS, Texas — Waiting three weeks and counting to cross into Texas, Lila sat in a shelter on the Mexico border Friday feeling trapped: The cartels make it too dangerous to turn around and the U.S. government offers no guarantees if she keeps going.
“They don’t ask for papers. They ask you for money,” said Lila, a 39-year-old from Honduras, describing officers who pulled her off buses as she made her journey north.
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She insisted only her first name be used because she fears retaliation from the cartels.
Her lack of good options reflected feelings of wide frustration — among both migrants and officials in U.S. cities — as the arrival of large groups of migrants this week overwhelmed Border Patrol agents. More than 8,000 migrants turned up this week at the Texas border city of Eagle Pass, across from Piedras Negas, where Lila and her Cuban partner waited for an appointment to seek asylum in the U.S.
Many others are not waiting and crossed through the Rio Grande, including a 3-year-old boy who authorities say drowned.
An international bridge remained closed Friday as agents are reassigned to handle the large numbers in Eagle Pass, which for two years has been the epicenter of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s border mission known as Operation Lone Star. That has included a floating barrier in the Rio Grande.
Residents of Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras said that though their communities have been part of the immigration route for years, the size of the groups now is unusual.
Migrants who arrived this week said they formed organically along the way.
“Reynosa is really tough. Juarez is dangerous right now, too,” said Eric Flores, a 39-year-old from Honduras.
Migrants were stopped at the border 142,037 times during the first 17 days of September, up 15% from 123,777 the same period last month, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection figures released Thursday by Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador.
Those figures include up to 1,450 people admitted daily with a mobile app for asylum appointments, called CBP One, but the vast majority are illegal entries.
Flores said he arrived on a train from Mexico City in a group of about 3,000 people.
