10,000 Migrants Crossing Southern Border Every Day in ‘Overwhelming’ Surge

Officers along the United States border with Mexico dealt with 167,000 migrants in the first seventeen days of December, marking a sharp rise on the previous month as resources are stretched thin to cope with smuggler misinformation.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources told NewsNation that around 10,000 people were detained each day last week, with many of those coming through holes cut into the border wall.

In November, there were 130,000 encounters along the southwestern border during that same period. Agents told reporter Ali Bradley that they were "overwhelmed" by the numbers.

Migrants have been seen climbing through multiple holes in the 30-foot high border wall, cut by smugglers, rather than showing up at official points of entry with an appointment.

On Monday, key rail crossings between Mexico and the U.S. were closed by CBP, while others, including Bridge 1 in Eagle Pass and Lukeville, Arizona's crossing point, have also seen operations suspended.

All of this has allowed CBP officers to be redeployed in order to detain those waiting in the desert to be picked up. Smugglers have told many migrants that if they go this route, U.S. officials will simply pick them up and process them anyway.

CBP has repeatedly said this is not true, with the threat of detention pending a hearing or "repatriation" back to their home countries instead.

The latest spot smugglers have chosen to tell migrants is a way into the U.S. is the area between official entry points in the El Paso sector. People were seen cutting through concertina wire along the Rio Grande, or placing clothing or cardboard over it in order to cross.

“El Paso Sector continues to remain vigilant and enforcing consequences under U.S. immigration law,” El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Anthony “Scott” Good said in a press release. “No one should believe the lies of transnational criminal organizations.

"These criminal organizations prey on vulnerable individuals for financial gain. The truth is that individuals and families put their lives in peril by crossing the border illegally.”

CBP repeated calls for migrants to make appointments via the CBP One app in order to be officially processed at ports of entry.

Official statistics released by CBP, up until November, show a steady climb in encounters over 2023. In June, there were 144,556 recorded encounters, with numbers climbing to 269, 735 in September.

“The encounter levels we are currently seeing across the southwest border are presenting a serious challenge to the men and women of CBP," Troy A. Miller, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner, CBP, told The Messenger in a statement. "To meet this challenge, we are using all available resources to ensure the safety and security of our agents and officers, and the migrants who are often misled and victimized by the transnational criminal organizations.

"These smugglers are recklessly putting migrants into harm’s way: in remote locations across the border, onto the tops of trains, or into the waters of the Rio Grande River. CBP and our federal partners need additional funding from Congress so that we can continue to effectuate consequences for those who do not use the established pathways.”

Republicans and Democrats alike in states dealing with the crisis have called on Washington D.C. to take stronger action on the issue. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs said Friday that she was sending the National Guard to the border, while calling for federal support.

On Capitol Hill on Monday, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said that politicians were nowhere near a deal over the border crisis, which is tied up in disagreements over granting additional funding to Ukraine and Israel.