El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended a large group of more than 300 migrants who illegally crossed the border near Sunland Park, New Mexico, late Monday night. Border security advocates staged a “human wall” demonstration near the scene to draw attention to the incomplete border wall in the area.
Shortly before midnight on Monday, Santa Teresa Station agents patrolling near Mt. Cristo Rey observed a large group of 311 migrants making their way around the end of the pedestrian fence near Sunland Park. The agents took the migrants into custody and transported them to the station for medical evaluation and processing, according to El Paso Sector Border Patrol officials.
The apprehension is the latest in a series of “large group” migrant crossings. Border Patrol officials define a “large group” as more than 100 migrants.
Agents working near the Antelope Wells Point of Entry witnessed dozens of “large group” crossings this year. Most recently, agents apprehended 330 migrants in that area on the same day as the Sunland Park crossings.
Over the weekend, border security advocates came to the Sunland Park border area and staged a “human wall” demonstration to support President Donald Trump’s calls for additional border barriers. The section features an end to the bollard fencing where people can simply walk around the incomplete barrier.
Border-security advocates form a “human wall” at an unsecured section of the New Mexico/Mexico border. (Photo: HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP/Getty Images)
The demonstration followed a tweet from the president where he said he would “build a Human Wall if necessary.”
Tremendous numbers of people are coming up through Mexico in the hopes of flooding our Southern Border. We have sent additional military. We will build a Human Wall if necessary. If we had a real Wall, this would be a non-event!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 5, 2019
“The smuggling of large groups within the local communities present(s) various challenges to ensure criminals do not use these tactics to exploit vulnerabilities,” El Paso Sector officials said in a written statement. “Criminal organizations continue to search for ways to shift Border Patrol resources from one area in hopes of creating gaps in coverage to move drugs and criminals through other areas.”
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for the Breitbart Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Face
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