More than 400 migrants cross border, surrender to
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A group of men, women and children surrendered to agents along the Rio Grande levee next to the border fence in the Riverside area of the Lower Valley, said Agent Fidel Baca, an agency spokesman.
The group was the latest in an increase in recent weeks of groups of large number of migrants crossing the Texas border to turn themselves in in a bid for political asylum.
Border Patrol initially detained 200 people but the number had jumped to 400 by Monday evening, including a group found east of the Zaragoza Bridge, Baca said.
The migrants were taken into custody and will be processed. A determination will be made whether they will be prosecuted for illegal entry, Baca said.
A group of about 130 migrants surrendered Monday morning on the border near Fonseca Drive and were taken away by Border Patrol buses.
There were about 90 migrants left waiting with agents, and then a group of about 30 more showed up while an El Paso Times photographer was at the scene.
Some migrants were then taken away in Border Patrol vehicles, while about 60 migrants were left waiting while being watched by a single agent.
A wave of Central American migrants seeking political asylum in the United States began arriving in Juárez in October.
It was not known if the migrants were part of the Central American caravans making their way through Mexico, Baca said.
The countries where the migrants are from were not immediately disclosed.
The migrants are made to wait in Mexico by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, who has said it doesn't have the facility space at the international bridges for large groups.
Last month, more than 100 migrants were sleeping on the Paso Del Norte international bridge connecting El Paso and Juárez, waiting to be allowed into the U.S. until Mexican authorities made them go to a migrant shelter.
Migrants processed by U.S. immigration authorities are then released to the streets pending asylum hearings.
A network of shelters set up by churches and civic groups in El Paso and Las Cruces have been temporarily housing the migrants before they make their way to destinations in other parts of the nation.
https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/immigr...195464002/