US border officials reported the highest number of migrant crossings ever, with a seven-day average of more than 9,600, a Homeland Security official told CNN.
The record-smashing figure is the average across the entire southern border of the country.
It surpassed another record for 6,800 encounters the previous month.
The recent surge has been fueled by thousand of migrants showing up across the border in never-before-seen numbers, but specifically in three hot spots.
The tiny outpost of Lukeville, Arizona is the epicenter of the border crisis– and saw nearly 20,000 migrants illegally make entry in just one week.
A migrant bows while awaiting Border Patrol transport at the U.S.-Mexico border near Lukeville, Arizona, U.S., December 25, 2023
Migrants walk to a processing facility as directed by Border Patrol at the U.S.-Mexico border near Lukeville, Arizona, U.S., December 25, 2023
Migrants await Border Patrol transport at the U.S.-Mexico border near Lukeville, Arizona, U.S., December 25, 2023
Eagle Pass, Texas and Tijuana, Mexico, just south of San Diego, Cali, are the two other busiest places on the border.
Eagle Pass saw at least 18,853 migrants last week, according to the US Border Patrol.
The US has been seeing historic numbers since 2021, when the pandemic ended, opening up travel restrictions in many countries, and after President Joe Biden took office.
However, the strain of the migrant influx has been spread across the border– not just those three locations.
The US Border Patrol, the agency charged with border security, is engaging in something called ‘lateral decompression’ to help overwhelmed areas of the border.
The official crossing into Lukeville, Arizona, is closed and local businesses are at the brink, with a border official saying a staggering 19,400 migrants were apprehended at the town this week
Venezuelan migrant Diana walks with her daughter Samira, 4, and husband Juan Brazon, after crossing the border to Eagle Pass, Texas, United States. 26 December, 2023
Migrants walk to a processing center under U.S. authorities escort after crossing the border to Eagle Pass, Texas, United States. 26 December, 2023. The majority of the group were from Venezuela
Agents in a busy sector will bus or fly migrants to less busy parts of the border where the migrants can be screened—what the department calls ‘processing.’
That’s when migrants who have crossed into the US without documentation are put through a background check.
Anyone with a criminal record is either deported to turned over to the proper authorities.
Those without a record have their biometrics collected and Border Patrol makes a record of their illegal entry, a federal crime.
Agents then begin deporting them.
Migrants board a Border Patrol transport van at the U.S.-Mexico border near Lukeville, Arizona, U.S., December 25, 2023
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent closes the door of a migrant transport van at the U.S.-Mexico border near Lukeville, Arizona on Christmas Day
Figures released by the US Border Patrol show a huge spike in number of migrants in Lukeville, Arizona, which is part of the Tucson Sector for the agency
Since 2021, many illegal border crossers have been claiming asylum during this time.
By law, the US Border Patrol must halt deportation if an individual says they have a fear of returning to their country.
Those who met an initial threshold for asylum are given a court date, often years away, and legally released into the country.
Currently, the Border Patrol has maxed out processing space in those three hot spots: San Diego, Lukeville and Eagle Pass.
Migrants are being sent to any Border Patrol station across the US-Mexico border that has space.
Many are ending up in El Paso, Texas, which has a large facility built especially for lateral decompression.
Once migrants are processed in El Paso, those deemed eligible are released into West Texas.
A migrant caravan, 6,000-8,000 people strong is currently making its way through Southern Mexico bound for the US
Morehead Middle School in El Paso, Texas, opened as a migrant shelter Friday evening, city officials said
The school turned shelter has a capacity of house hundreds of migrants
The spill-over effect has created a crisis in that Texas city, even though migrants are not crossing there in large numbers.
That has prompted local officials to use a vacant middle school as an emergency migrant shelter.
Additionally, the city is anticipating it will get another wave of border crossers when a sprawling migrant caravan, estimated to between 6,000-8,000 migrants, arrives at the border in a matter of weeks.
‘We know they’re coming, but we just don’t know how it’s going to split,’ one Border Patrol official speaking on condition of anonymity told DailyMail.com.
US immigration officials believe it’s possible the group could split up as it moves through Mexico.
‘It’s likely you won’t see the whole caravan crossing at the same place. Some could go to Eagle Pass, while others could end up in El Paso. It just depends.’
Even 1,000 or more migrants crossing in one location has the ability to collapse resources in one area, local officials bracing for the worst, told DailyMail.com.