2400 Migrants Apprehended in One Day in Rio Grande Valley Border Sector

Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 2,400 migrants Saturday. The apprehensions are part of an "unprecedented" number of illegal immigrants crossing the border on a daily basis.

Agents from Brownsville to Roma, Texas, apprehended more than 2,400 migrants on May 4, according to information provided by Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol officials. The majority of those migrants apprehended were Central American family units and unaccompanied minors.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in Washington, D.C. told Breitbart News earlier this week that more than 476,000 migrants have been apprehended during the first seven months of the fiscal year which began on October 1, 2018. These numbers indicate that agents apprehended more than 115,000 in April 2019, an increase of 24 percent over last months record-setting numbers. The CBP officials said that about 33,000 of those April apprehensions occurred during the last 10 days.

Most concerning to the CBP official is the number of large migrant groups being apprehended — mostly in remote and desolate locations. Border Patrol officials define a "large group" as consisting of more than 100 people. So far this fiscal year, there have been 141 large groups apprehended after illegally crossing the border. These groups represent more than 22,000 people, the official stated.

Recently, large group crossings hit a new record when El Paso Sector agents apprehended 424 migrants at once. A few hours later, agents patrolling near Antelope Wells, New Mexico, apprehended another 230. These large group apprehensions in remote locations choke border security operations in a wide area as all available Border Patrol agents are consolidated to transport and process the migrants in the large groups, the CBP official stated.

Rio Grande Valley Sector officials have been forced to open a new temporary shelter in Donna, Texas, to deal with these unprecedented numbers of migrant families.

"We've exceeded our capacity and we're doing all we can to house migrants in a humane place and transfer them in and out in a timely fashion as none of the Border Patrol facilities, including the one in Donna, are meant to be long term detention centers," said Chief Rodolfo Karisch.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for the Breitbart Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Face book .