Del Rio, Texas (September 17, 2021) – The Center for Immigration Studies gained rare access to the Del Rio migrant beachhead Thursday afternoon (
see video), despite a media blackout ordered by federal authorities. Thousands of mostly Haitian migrants (joined by Cubans and other nationalities) have poured entirely unopposed across the Rio Grande and occupied a massive beachhead on the Texas side that is unparalleled in size, filth, and as an escalating management challenge to a Joe Biden administration that has so far refused to publicly acknowledge it.
Todd Bensman, the Center’s senior national security fellow, said, “In barely a week, the number of illegal immigrants has reached 10,000 and is new migrants continue to arrive, far faster than Border Patrol agents and National Guard personnel can process them. Some reports say tens of thousands more are heading to Del Rio through northern Mexico. Most of these migrants will end up taking buses or planes to resettle throughout the country on an honor system that presumes they will claim asylum at some point.”
Bensman reports that “Privately, CPB employees have expressed outrage and dismay that the Biden administration is allowing unfettered entry like this, which entices ever more immigrants to head for the new Texas beachhead. Several officers also expressed fear that, should these immigrants become impatient with the ever-extending process periods under these living conditions, they will riot and easily overwhelm the relatively few available Border Patrol, National Guard, and Texas Department of Public Safety officers available for security.”
At the municipal press briefing, CIS asked Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez, why he and the town mayor were holding a press conference about a federal issue such as illegal immigration, rather than someone from the Department of Homeland Security.
“Why are you here, and they’re not?” this reporter asked the sheriff, who is a Democrat.
“I can’t answer for them, and I won’t. But they need to get in the game because this is an immigration issue. That’s a federal issue,” Sheriff Martinez said. “And you know… I get the feeling, from my opinion being down here, I feel abandoned. We’re on our own. So I think the rest of the country has to step up also. They need to get in the game too.”
