EL PASO, Texas — Federal law enforcement from Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement descended on a migrant encampment downtown Tuesday afternoon as part of an enforcement operation targeting immigrants who have been living on the street after evading arrest at the border crossing.
Dozens of federal agents and officers arrived outside Sacred Heart Church midday and walked in groups of six to eight people through alleys and streets where hundreds of makeshift tents line the walls and house immigrants unable to be sheltered by nonprofit groups that received federal funding.
TITLE 42 ENDING: POLICE TO SWEEP OUT 2,500 MIGRANT GOTAWAYS OVERTAKING EL PASO STREETS
Police approached people one on one with other law enforcement stood behind them. The groups of police made their way from a block north of the church five blocks southbound to the port of entry.
IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ACTION UNDERWAY IN EL PASO
Federal agents and officers from ICE and Border Patrol are walking every alley and block in groups headed southbound checking papers for people living on the street. pic.twitter.com/iM5O9nVba8
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) May 9, 2023
The Washington Examiner was on-site at the start of the operation at 2 p.m. local time and followed federal police as they made their way through the streets. Local police remained on scene but stayed at the church and did not participate.
One senior agent called out instructions to the groups over the radio system. Other ICE and Border Patrol personnel formed a perimeter around the space, remaining further outside the area to respond to anyone who tried to run.
By 3 p.m., dozens of immigrants remained at the church after proving to federal police that they did have permission to be in the country.
Breaking news: Dozens and dozens of federal agents from Border Patrol and ICE are walking through downtown El Paso and making individual one on one contact with people who been living on the streets unlawfully after crossing the border illegally. It is very calm and controlled. pic.twitter.com/MHHm1fWOvb
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) May 9, 2023
However, hundreds of the approximately 2,500 immigrants Border Patrol officials had said were on site were ultimately convinced by paper flyers that encouraged people to surrender or instructed by police on Tuesday afternoon to submit to immigration authorities.
One immigrant from Venezuela who spoke with the Washington Examiner while in line at the station later returned to the church and reported all of the Venezuelans in the line with him were boarded into vehicles and driven across the bridge back to Mexico. The man claimed to have run out of the line and fled without being caught. Only a few, including Colombians, were released at the station and allowed to remain in the United States.
The high number of immigrants that Border Patrol officials had told the Washington Examiner on Monday that it anticipated encountering the following day was far from reality, even though members of its Mobile Response Team had been on call and in full riot gear, ready to provide backup if necessary.
Some Border Patrol agents, including its union, accused CBP of self-sabotage by publicizing its planned sweep with the Monday announcement, therefore, giving immigrants a heads-up and encouraging them to leave downtown and disappear into the city.
Part 2 – Immigrants turned themselves in to Border Patrol near one of the ports of entry in El Paso, Texas pic.twitter.com/zAimDUXXUo
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) May 10, 2023
“Nothing like publicly announcing that dangerous people will be arrested, while warning them ahead of time exactly where to run and hide to avoid arrest,” the National Border Patrol Council tweeted late Monday. “This entire operation is a sad joke — another pandering PR stunt. Serious law enforcement leaders don’t behave this way.”
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In addition, the Washington Examiner learned Tuesday morning that Border Patrol agents had printed flyers and handed them out to immigrants outside the church before dawn. The flyers did not have any government logo and instructed people in Spanish to turn themselves in to be eligible for food and shelter at other city nonprofit groups that can only provide to immigrants with papers that are given out by Border Patrol.
Two senior CBP officials confirmed that agents were on the clock when they created and handed out the instructions. It was unclear who oversaw the effort and the Department of Homeland Security’s role in targeting Venezuelans, in particular, for expulsion.
