Hundreds of illegal immigrants crossed the Rio Grande on Wednesday on the same day that Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas defended the Biden administration’s border policies in testimony before a House committee.
The crossing took place near Eagle Pass, Texas, a location recently visited by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, NewsNation and Fox News reported. Mayorkas testified before the House Homeland Security Committee alongside FBI Director Christopher Wray and National Counterterrorism Center Director Christine Abizaid, where he defended the Biden administration’s policies on the border. (RELATED: ‘Are You Worried?’: Fox Host Confronts John Kirby Over Potential Terrorists Who ‘Slip Through’ Border)
Video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed the migrants wading across the Rio Grande while holding on to a rope. The number of drownings on the river previously prompted officials in Eagle Pass to request refrigerated trucks to store the dead bodies due to funeral homes and morgues being overwhelmed in September 2022.
“The Department continues to implement a border security strategy focused on enforcement, the expansion of lawful pathways, and agreements with regional partners,” Mayorkas said during his testimony. “The plan has increased the number of law enforcement personnel along the border and expedited removals of noncitizens without a legal basis to remain in the United States thanks to enhanced enforcement processes and historic international agreements.”
WATCH:
Happening Now: Eagle Pass under Siege as Hundreds Storm the Rio Grande
Video: @efraiinGzz pic.twitter.com/cTR7HLqZPv
— Auden B. Cabello (@CabelloAuden) November 15, 2023
“Wow. Another massive illegal crossing taking place in Eagle Pass, TX right now,” Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin posted on X.
Mayorkas has claimed that the border is not open on multiple occasions, including during a May 10 press conference where he ignored questions from Daily Caller News Foundation investigative reporter Jennie Taer.
“Happening Now: Eagle Pass under Siege as Hundreds Storm the Rio Grande,” Auden B. Cabello, a “citizen journalist,” posted on X.
“Happening Now: Hundreds lunge into the Rio Grande and cross into Eagle Pass en masse,” X Posterity said in a Wednesday evening post on X. “They are crossing by International Bridge 2, where @elonmusk and @VivekGRamaswamy recently visited.”
Musk visited the crossing, an illegal immigration hotspot, on Sept. 28 and posted video of illegal immigrants being processed by Border Patrol agents.
Over 2.45 million illegal immigrants have been encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border during fiscal year 2023, according to data released by United States Customs and Border Protection, following 2,378,944 encounters in fiscal year 2022 and 1,734,686 in fiscal year 2021.
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