Immigration Officials Move Migrants From Holding Area Under El Paso Bridge
EL PASO (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — U.S. immigration officials say they will close a migrant holding area under a bridge connecting El Paso with Juarez, Mexico, that is just a short distance from where a senior official declared an "operational crisis" at the border last week.
ICYMI: Nearly every Border Patrol sector across the SW border has exceeded their capacity. This week, @CBP_McAleenan briefed media in El Paso about the unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis all along the SW border. Watch: https://t.co/2fF0TUuHqV
— CBP (@CBP) March 31, 2019
In a statement Sunday, Customs and Border Protection says that migrants being held under the Paso Del Norte International Bridge will be relocated to to the Customs and Border Protection El Paso station -- a place with more space and shelter.
The holding area is a few hundred yards from where Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan Wednesday announced that 750 border inspectors will be reassigned to cope with an influx of families from Central American seeking asylum.
The area, that officials called a "transitional" camp, held hundreds of migrants in a pen surrounded by fencing and razor wire under the shade of a bridge.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)