By Julia Ainsley—
NBC News
GRANJENO, Texas.— The sun was barely rising over the Rio Grande when a patrol of US border agents detained five Colombian immigrants who had just crossed the river into Texas only to run into a 25-foot-high wall that blocked their way.
One of those captured by Border Patrol, a 30-year-old Colombian, said he came to the United States as a "last resort" because "he couldn't live anymore."
He said he was blackmailed and his wife threatened during their long journey north.
On Thursday morning, this man became
one of more than 2,000 apprehensions
that the Rio Grande Valley sector of southeast Texas averages each day, according to Customs and Border Protection officials.
Border Patrol agents apprehended migrants in Granjeno, Texas on Thursday morning. NBC News
That same day, the Secretary of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, visited the border agents in the valley,
shortly before Title 42 was lifted
, the measure that allows
express
deportation due to the COVID-19 emergency and that has resulted in
more than 2.5 million immigrant removals
since the Trump administration imposed it in March 2020.
Border agents are bracing for a massive surge in immigrants when Title 42 ends on May 11.
But here and in many other sections of the border, that increase has already begun.
Agents in the Rio Grande Valley said they
are already seeing an increase in migration
because smugglers brought migrants to northern Mexico before the end of Title 42 and have begun moving them into the United States to free up space.
[Biden tries to take control of the border before the end of Title 42 and the lack of agreement in Congress]
Most of the migrants Border Patrol has encountered recently, as observed by NBC News and other news outlets, had never heard of Title 42 but had paid a coyote to tell them when to cross.
A Border Patrol official said processing centers in the Rio Grande sector are technically full, but can still comfortably house incoming immigrants before they are returned under Title 42, detained by the Immigration Service, or released. at local shelters.
This is how the despair of migrants to cross while the Border Patrol watches them looks up close
May 4, 202302:08
The concern, the Border Patrol official said, is how long it will take to process migrants when Title 42 disappears.
Instead of one agent processing and sending 40 migrants back to Mexico in five minutes under Title 42, it will take them 30 minutes to an hour to process a single migrant and determine where they go next, he explained.
The slowness to process people could result in backlogs at Border Patrol stations and the distraction of agents stationed in the area, the official said.
[What is behind the immigration bill promoted by DeSantis? His intention is to “terrorize immigrants and their communities”, according to experts]
In Brownsville, Texas, thousands of migrants have crossed an abandoned golf course daily.
To avoid the chaos that occurred during a surge in Del Rio, Texas, in September 2021, Border Patrol has expedited the processing of migrants and Immigration service quickly busses them out of the area.
As Mayorkas tours the Rio Grande Valley, Department of Homeland Security officials have been touting the sector's recent success in speedily processing migrants.
But the number of immigrants is growing:
the sector is now the third busiest to date.
In El Paso, the busiest place in the past year, local officials and shelter managers estimate there are more than 1,000 migrants they couldn't receive and are now sleeping on the streets.
They alert about an avalanche of migrants in El Paso and present a bill to stop the crossings
May 5, 202300:39
Mayorkas and border officials are also touting technological advances to detect and process migrants.
Since fiscal year 2022, the Biden administration has added 81 new autonomous watchtowers that use artificial intelligence technology to track movement and distinguish between a person and a deer cruising through brush.
DHS has increased its surveillance technology, but so have human smugglers.
As Border Patrol agents advanced across the Rio Grande River under the Anzalduas International Bridge, which connects Mexico to McAllen, Texas,
they saw a drone hovering above them, tracking their movements.
Agents said it was likely operated by a human smuggler to determine the best way to get a group of migrants across without detection.
