A group of about 600 migrants — including one little girl dressed up like Santa Claus — entered into the US Saturday as part of a year-end surge across the southern border.
The giant group, mainly from Venezuela and Honduras, was the largest The Post has seen at Eagle Pass, Tex. this week, where a makeshift open-air transit center processed more than 10,000 people in the last few days alone.
On Monday, US Customs and Border Protection officers encountered more than 12,600 illegal immigrants along the US-Mexico border, a single-day record, as asylum seekers rush to beat a new Texas state law that could criminalize such unauthorized entries.
Saturday’s well-organized crossing began in the pre-dawn darkness, as family groups and individual adults gathered on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, then waded across the shallow river, some holding cell phones aloft to light their way.
As dawn broke, The Post watched the hour-long parade as migrants left the waist-deep water, then walked single file along the riverbank on the US side.
A large group of about 600 migrants walked single file along the US side of the Rio Grande to reach Eagle Pass, Tex. Go Nakamura for NY Post
Migrants surrendered to authorities after strolling over a path of piled-up blankets and coats that thwarted the concertina wire meant to keep them out of the US. Go Nakamura for NY Post
Members of the group, who told The Post they had come mostly from Honduras and Venezuela, waited calmly for officers to escort them to a processing area. Go Nakamura for NY PostThey draped blankets and coats over the concertina wire to make a pathway through the sharp barbs, then clambered over, to be met by state and federal agents who escorted them to a holding area for processing.
One child had decked herself out in Santa hat, striped red dress, and pink fuzzy slippers for her journey with what appeared to be a seven-member family group.
Authorities encountered 242,418 illegal immigrants at the US-Mexico border in November, CBP announced Friday, a new record for the month.
A little girl in a jolly red Santa cap and dress crossed into the US with the group of migrants. Go Nakamura for NY Post
Some stripped down to their skivvies and discarded their wet clothes on the ground. Go Nakamura for NY Post
Tucson International Airport has posted a sign directing migrants without passports on where they should go within the airport to bypass ordinary security screenings. X @BillMelugin_Others stripped down to their underwear to change into dry clothes, littering the area with abandoned wet belongings.
The staggering total came after nearly 2.5 million people were apprehended illegally crossing the border in fiscal year 2023 — a record-breaking tally — along with an estimated 670,000 “gotaways” who evaded authorities last year.
Meanwhile, special lines were set up at Tucson International Airport in Arizona allowing “non-US citizens without passports” — that is, illegal immigrants carrying Department of Homeland Security paperwork instead of official forms of identification — to bypass ordinary screenings and board domestic flights, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin posted on X.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Saturday blasted the administration’s announcement of November’s total, calling it “an attempt to bury the news over the holidays.”
“The numbers don’t lie,” McDaniel said.
“Joe Biden created a humanitarian crisis at our border and is actively weakening our national security.”
