Border Patrol closes highway checkpoint as immigration surges

The Border Patrol shut down a highway checkpoint in the El Paso sector as the number of illegal crossings in the area skyrockets. Photos sent to Straight Arrow News by a source in El Paso show a checkpoint in New Mexico blocked off and unstaffed.

The Border Patrol El Paso sector denied the shutdown was related to the ongoing immigration influx. A public information officer said any checkpoint closure would have been temporary due to a staffing issue or possibly weather related.

Regardless of the reason, retired Border Patrol agent William Jackson explained to Straight Arrow News how shutting down these checkpoints can impact border security.

“Removing agents from checkpoints will allow illegal drugs and dangerous criminals to enter into our country unimpeded; this will jeopardize the safety and security of our communities,” Jackson said. “Also, it would increase the opportunity for the most vulnerable of our society to be trafficked and would decrease their chances of being rescued from their captors.”

On Saturday, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency after previously resisting the move. Leeser said the city is expecting the number of immigrants arriving everyday to increase from 2,500 to as many as 6,000 once Title 42 ends Wednesday. According to a public database maintained by the city, 10,349 immigrants were released onto the city’s streets during the week of Dec. 11-17.

“I really believe that today our asylum-seekers are not safe as we have hundreds and hundreds on the streets and that’s not the way we want to treat people,” Leeser said at a news conference.

Leeser said he received assurances from Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, that the state will speak with him before imposing any new immigration orders. The city is requesting the state provide assistance with staffing, law enforcement and transportation.

Gov. Abbott warned it will be “chaos” if Title 42 ends. He is advocating to keep it in place.

“Whether it’s COVID or some other issue, when you have people coming across the globe without knowing at all what their health status is, that almost by definition is a public health risk. There’s every reason to keep that in place,” Gov. Abott told ABC’s This Week.

Title 42 is a pandemic era immigration order that allows certain immigrants to be deported almost immediately on public health grounds. The Department of Homeland Security estimates anywhere from 9 thousand to 14 thousand immigrants could cross illegally every single day as a result.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams told city council members in an email that they should expect 1,000 asylum seekers to arrive on buses every week.

“We have diligently advocated for support from our Federal & State partners as we cannot continue to address this issue alone. We’ve already received more than 31,000 asylum seekers into our city, and currently have open 60 emergency shelters, four humanitarian relief centers, and two welcome centers,” Adams said in the email obtained by the New York Post.

On Friday, a DC Circuit Court refused to let a group of republican attorneys general intervene in the lawsuit that ended Title 42. The group of 19 attorneys general asked the appeals court to delay the end of Title 42 after a lower court found it to be unlawful.