Robert Almonte on the dire state of border crisis: 'The floodgates are open'
Former El Paso U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte on skyrocketing illegal border crossings and what the looming end to Title 42 could mean.
Former El Paso U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte told "Fox & Friends First" Wednesday that the border crisis impacts the entire United States, not just border communities because migrants move throughout the country.
"The floodgates are open, and when Title 42 is lifted, you're going to see the dam break," he warned.
TEXAS SEES THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS CROSS BORDER IN 24-HOUR SPAN
Almonte said, border communities like El Paso and Brownsville "don't have the funding to deal with the situation" and are in desperate need of help from the Biden administration.
"This is going to have an impact on state and local law enforcement agencies on the border and throughout the United States," said Almonte. "These migrants, some of them, are going to be committing crimes and a lot of them are going to become victims of crime. So this is an issue where state and local authorities are handling a federal problem."
El Paso, Texas City Council member Claudia Rodriguez said more money is not the only solution and the Biden administration is failing to secure the southern border. Rodriguez said Wednesday on "Fox & Friends" that her community feels "overwhelmed" ahead of the upcoming expiration of Title 42.
Rodriguez said she has "no idea what is stopping" the El Paso mayor, a Democrat, from declaring a state of emergency.
"The community is asking him to do it. I've been asking him to do it. I will continue to ask him to do it. But at this point, we're days away from Title 42 being lifted. And I don't know if it's going to be enough time to mobilize troops, to mobilize whomever we need to mobilize, to come down to El Paso to help us."
Additionally, Rodriguez mentioned how the city of El Paso voted for Joe Biden and wishes their concerns would be a priority for the president.
"You're not even on his things-to-do list," host Brian Kilmeade responded.
"We are being overwhelmed. I know that everybody is going to the CBP center. The CBP center is supposed to hold 1,040 people. And currently, it's over capacity. They have over 5,000 people," said Rodriguez.
A migrant caravan containing more than 1,000 people crossed over the U.S.-Mexico border into El Paso, Texas, on Sunday, Dec. 11, video shows. (Fox News)
Fox News has obtained footage showing the moment a migrant caravan with more than 1,000 people crossed over the U.S.-Mexico border into El Paso, Texas.
The video, taken Sunday night, comes as U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources said Monday that its El Paso sector has seen 2,397 migrant encounters in the last 24 hours alone.
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The city of El Paso has a dashboard that reports Border Patrol in that sector currently has around 5,100 migrants in custody.
"Customs and Border Protection’s El Paso Sector on the Texas border with Mexico has seen an increase in encounters," CBP said in a statement to Fox News on Monday afternoon. "In order to process individuals as safely and expeditiously as possible, Border Patrol agents from Big Bend and CBP Officers from El Paso Field Office are assisting with processing."
Fox News' Greg Norman and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
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