U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) temporarily shut down cargo processing at the Bridge of the Americas (BOTA) port of entry in El Paso, Texas, so officers could assist in processing an influx of migrants that have surged across the border in recent days.
According to the announcement from CBP, the closure began on Monday; no date was given for when normal operations are expected to resume.
The Bridge of the Americas port connects El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
"The temporary suspension at BOTA will allow CBP's Office of Field Operations officers to assist the U.S. Border Patrol in processing noncitizens who have arrived between the ports of entry including vulnerable populations like families and unaccompanied children," an agency spokesperson said in a statement Friday.
"CBP regularly plans for and executes contingency measures, such as this, to support the overarching agency mission and ensure the safety and wellbeing of those in the agency's custody," it added.
Truckers were advised to redirect to the Ysleta, Santa Teresa or Marcelino Serna (Tornillo) ports of entry. BOTA is normally open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Daily Mail reported that more than 2,200 migrants were shown illegally crossing the Rio Grande River from Piedras Negras, Mexico, into Eagle Pass, Texas, in video footage that emerged on Monday.
The group could be seen wading through deep waters close to midnight in the video and was reportedly huddled under a bridge in Eagle Pass after being rounded up by Border Patrol as daylight broke.
In El Paso County, Border Patrol agents apprehended hundreds of migrants at the southern border in Socorro on Tuesday morning. The majority are from Venezuela. ABC 7 reported that Border Patrol agents are encountering 1,300 people a day since Sept. 1.
Over the weekend, the El Paso Office of Emergency Management began setting up the Nations Tobin Recreation Center to serve as a shelter for the hundreds of recent arrivals.
City spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta said in a statement on Monday that the space is not currently being used.
"Out of an overabundance of caution, the OEM has set up an overflow facility at Nations Toben Recreation Center to ensure we did not see any street releases," the statement read, according to ABC 7. "We don’t anticipate using the facility and it remains unused at this time."
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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