Rio Grande Valley Border chief says apprehensions of large migrant groups dwarfing prior years

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Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector are seeing a significant increase in large groups of migrants hitting the border, with more groups in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 already matching the number encountered in the past two years combined.

RGV Chief Patrol Agent Brian Hastings tweeted that agents apprehended two groups totaling 264 migrants over the weekend in Hidalgo, Texas. The group included 60 unaccompanied children.

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"With 3 months remaining in the fiscal year, RGV has already matched the total number of large groups apprehended in the previous two fiscal years combined," Hastings said. 

Hastings also highlighted a number of stash houses full of dozens of migrants that were raided by agents in the sector.

The stat is the latest snapshot into the enormous surge of migrants facing often-overwhelmed agents and agencies as they grapple with the crisis at the southern border.

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There were more than 180,000 migrant encounters in May alone, as well as increases in seizures of the deadly drug fentanyl. Agents have also been facing large numbers of unaccompanied children who, unlike single adults and some family units, are not being returned under Title 42 public health protections.

Meanwhile, Mexico has refused to take back some migrant families with children under 7 – an issue that Vice President Kamala Harris recently said did not come up during discussions with Mexico’s president when she visited the country.

Republicans and others have blamed the surge on a mix of a more welcoming message to migrants from the Biden administration, as well as the rollback of key Trump-era policies such as the border wall, the application of Title 42 to migrant children and the Remain-in-Mexico policy. Guatemala's president also blamed the administration, saying "the message changed" and coyotes took advantage.

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The Biden administration has pushed back against that narrative, blaming instead a combination of a lack of preparedness for a surge by the Trump administration and "root causes" such as violence, climate change and poverty in Central America.

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Harris was put in charge of diplomatic talks to combat the root causes 90 days ago, and she recently unveiled a series of investments in the region as part of a two-day trip. However, the vice president warned that the issue will not be solved overnight.

Republicans have criticized her for not visiting the border, saying that she needs to in order to understand the issue and effectively lead the talks. Harris has said she will visit the border but has not said when.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is asking for more money for technology and to strengthen ports of entry, while also requesting funding to process backlogs and increase the number of refugee admittances into the U.S.

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In a hearing last week, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the budget proposal from Republican criticism that it did not include money for more Border Patrol agents or border wall construction.

"We have a strategy," Mayorkas responded. "We are executing that strategy, I am confident in the strategy and I am confident in the proposal we have submitted to this Congress to best resource that strategy."