As of Thursday evening, over 10,000 migrants were gathered under the Del Rio International Bridge, said the mayor of Del Rio, Bruno Lozano.
Migrants are camped out under the bridge with little food and water. Temperatures in the area have risen to almost 100F. Most of them are Haitian but some are Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan.
Gov. Abbott said on Thursday that he instructed the Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to shut down six points of entry along the border as a request of the federal government.
The border crisis is so dire that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is requesting our help as their agents are overwhelmed by the chaos. Unlike President Biden, the State of Texas remains committed to securing our border and protecting Americans.
Gov. Abbott
Within hours, Abbott announced the reversal of his decision and asked the National Guard to “maintain their presence at and around ports of entry to deter crossings”.
His office released a statement saying the “Biden Administration has now flip-flopped to a different strategy that abandons border security and instead makes it easier for people to cross illegally and for cartels to exploit the border”.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the department was not looking for help from Texas to shut down the ports of entry.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick appeared on “The Ingraham Angle” Thursday and accused the Biden Administration of starting a “silent revolution”.
As the border crisis continues, the Federal Aviation Administration has put in place a two-week flight restriction along the bridge. This prevents reporters from flying drones over the area to document it.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin tweeted about the issue, saying ” we can no longer fly our FOX drone over it to show images of the thousands of migrants”.