A new video shows Border Patrol releasing hundreds of illegal migrants onto the streets of San Diego. The three unmarked white Border ...
A new video shows Border Patrol releasing hundreds of illegal migrants onto the streets of San Diego.
The three unmarked white Border Patrol buses can be seen pulled over on the side of the road as they begin releasing several hundred migrants onto the city streets across from a transit terminal, the video from Fox News shows.
Some of the migrants on the buses were from China and Pakistan, Fox News reported. The majority of the migrants were adult men, NBC News reported.
One notable exchange between a migrant and a Border Patrol agent was caught on video.
“You’re free to go on and do whatever you want,” the Border Patrol agent said.
“It’s no problem if I go to Chicago?” the migrant asked the agent.
“You can do whatever you want. You’re free,” the agent said.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reportedly said the migrant drop-offs are standard procedure. They are reportedly a way to relieve crowding at border crossings.
Migrant releases are also happening in Arizona south of Tucson as well.
In Sierra Vista, a Guatemalan migrant family was dropped off by Border Patrol in a Dollar Tree parking lot, leaving them confused about what to do next, Fox News reported.
The local Arizona sheriff slammed CBP for releasing the migrants onto the streets.
“People come from all over the country to smuggle here, endanger this community, the citizens, and we work united to combat that,” said Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels.
“Then to find out yesterday that CBP is doing street releases, as they call them, safe. There’s nothing safe about it,” Dannels said.
In El Paso, the Texas National Guard is using razor wire to try to keep large groups of migrants from crossing the border illegally.
The CBP estimates that there were about 230,000 migrant encounters in August, Fox News reported, which would be the highest monthly total so far this year.
In July, CBP encountered a total of 183,503 migrants, including those who presented at ports of entry.
Meanwhile, major cities are struggling to handle tens of thousands of new migrants streaming in from the border.
New York City is trying to metabolize more than 113,000 migrants who have shown up in the city since last spring, nearly 60,000 of whom are still being housed on the city’s dime.
The city has already spent more than $1.2 billion on the migrants and is projected to spend up to $5 billion.
“This issue will destroy New York City,” Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, said this month. “We’re getting 10,000 migrants a month. … Every community in this city is going to be impacted.”
Chicago has seen an influx of about 13,500 migrants recently. The country’s third-largest city has already spent at least $250 million on the issue.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is facing pushback from members of the city council over his plan to house migrants in tents across the city.
The situation has sparked tension between Democratic governors and mayors and the Biden administration, with local leaders pleading for more federal help with the migrant crisis.