Border Patrol Agents apprehended 311 migrants late Monday night as they walked around the end of a pedestrian fence near Sunland Park, New Mexico. The arrests occurred a few hours after President Trump held a wall rally a few miles away in El Paso, Texas. Earlier on Monday, Agents apprehended a group of 330 migrants several hundred miles to the west in Antelope Wells, New Mexico.
This is the first large group Agents encountered at Sunland Park this fiscal year, although such groups have been picked up many times near Antelope Wells. Like the groups breaching at Antelope Wells, this group was comprised mostly of Central American families and unaccompanied minors.
The president held a rally in El Paso to draw attention to the border crisis and need for more fencing. He noted that the fencing in El Paso has dramatically reduced illegal crossings into the city. Underlining his point, the migrants breaching near Sunland Park chose to enter where the fencing ended.
Just last weekend, a group of congressional Democrats toured Sunland Park as part of a fact-finding effort. The group’s leader - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the area presented “challenges” but did not immediately require more fencing.
Read more in The Washington Times.
