Approaching Surge Of 60,000 Haitian Migrants Could Overwhelm Border, Texas Officials Say

Around 60,000 Haitian migrants could overwhelm border officials in Texas, state leadership said, the Washington Examiner reported on Tuesday.

Texas law enforcement officials are reportedly preparing for over 60,000 migrants to attempt to illegally enter the U.S., according to the Washington Examiner. Thousands of Texas National Guard troops and Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officials were sent to assist immigration authorities at the border, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze told the Examiner.

“The Texas Department of Public Safety is committed to securing our southern border under the direction of Texas Governor Greg Abbott and has deployed around one-thousand Troopers, Special Agents and Texas Rangers as part of Operation Lone Star,” DPS Press Secretary Ericka Miller told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Tuesday.

“While the department does not discuss operational specifics, we continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds in order to make real-time decisions and will adjust operations as necessary,” Miller added.

Over 1,000 DPS officials were deployed to Del Rio, Texas, after thousands of Haitian migrants illegally entered the U.S. and set up an encampment under an international bridge, the Examiner reported. Cartels are helping Haitian migrants get through Central America and Mexico so they can attempt to illegally enter the U.S., according to the Examiner.

Panama’s Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes said the country notified the Biden administration about the thousands of Haitians headed to the U.S. before they arrived in Del Rio, Texas, Axios reported on Thursday.

Panama officials “sounded the alarm when we should have,” Mouynes told Axios. She said the U.S. should expect the arrival of around 60,000 migrants headed for the border.

“We’ve engaged with every single authority that we can think of, that we can come across, to say, ‘Please, let’s pay attention to this,” Mouynes told Axios. She is calling on the Biden administration to develop a plan with countries in the region since”they all are heading toward the U.S.”

More than 85,000 migrants have crossed through Panama since January, and between 20,000 and 25,000 Haitians have arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to Axios.