Border Patrol in Texas Asked for Assistance Earlier this Summer According to Emails

Tension in Del Rio Texas is continuing as thousands of immigrants wait to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol. According to emails that have surfaced, border patrol agents in Texas began asking management for additional resources to more rapidly process migrants as far back as June but their calls were unanswered until recently when thousands of people were forced to wait under a bridge near the U.S. Mexico border.

Earlier this year agents began to see an increase in people crossing the river into the U.S. which prompted the local union which represents border patrol agents in Del Rio to request technology and other resources to process migrants when they are first encountered at the border. The agency also started mandating overtime for personnel in the region around the same time. The number of migrants being apprehended at the border has skyrocketed with 30,000 people apprehended in both July and August and fewer than 10,000 arrested at the start of the fiscal year last October. Since Sunday, 12 flights have left the United States, sending refugees back home and more are expected in the upcoming days.