At least 336 migrants were stopped by Border Patrol agents as they walked in a caravan along the US-Mexico border in Texas - one of the largest single groups encountered in the area.
Agents apprehended the group Tuesday near the border town of La Grulla and provided medical treatment to many of the migrants who were suffering from dehydration and exhaustion, according to Brian Hastings, the chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol Rio Grande Valley Sector .
Some of the migrants were hospitalized for additional treatment.
'The journey is dangerous, and smugglers have no regard for human life,' Hastings wrote in a tweet.
Border Patrol officers from the U.S. Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley Sector treat one of the 336 undocumented migrants who were found crossing a stretch of the United States-Mexico border in Texas on Tuesday. The group is believe to be one of the largest encountered by agents, according to Brian Hastings, chief patrol officer for the Rio Grande Valley Sector
A woman is treated for a heat-related illness near the United States-Mexico border in Texas on Tuesday. The woman was among a group of 336 migrants who were stopped by officers assigned to the U.S. Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley Sector
Children and adults await to board U.S. Border Patrol buses in Texas after they were detained for crossing the United States-Mexico border on Tuesday
“The Rio Grande Valley Sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection continues to encounter significant numbers of undocumented migrants crossing the border. RGV continues to expel individuals under Title 42 authorities as part of COVID mitigation efforts and utilizes pathways under Title 8 proceedings to remove those amenable to their home countries,' a Rio Grande Valley Sector spokesperson said in a statement. 'During these challenging times, our federal, state, and local partnerships are indispensable as we work to secure our borders and to quickly move individuals out of USBP custody and through the appropriate immigration pathway.'
The discovery of the massive group comes two days after the RGV Sector announced that officers apprehended more than 20,000 individuals for illegally entering the United States along the southwestern border.
More than 1.07 million migrants have been apprehended between October 1, 2020 and January 30, 2021. Of those, Rio Grande Valley Sector agents intercepted 331,661 migrants - an increase of 46% compared to the year before.
CBP's report last month showed that of the 188,829 migrants werebstopped for illegally crossing the United States-Mexico border in June.
Figures released July 16 show 188,829 migrants were encountered at the southwestern border in June, even more than U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded in May
Pictured are some the more than 20,000 individuals who were stopped for unlawful passage across the southwestern border last week by agents assigned to U.S. Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley Sector
A group of migrants await to be transferred after they were detained last week by U.S. Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley Sector
During President Joe Biden's first five months in office, a total of 822,680 have been stopped at the southwestern international borderline which spans 1,954 miles.
As part of an effort to manage a border crisis that worsened during former President Donald Trump's last eight months in the White House and spiraled out of control once Biden succeeded him, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott revealed Tuesday that the National Guard would be deployed to along the U.S.-Mexico border will start helping troopers make arrests.
The announcement comes as Texas this month began jailing migrants caught entering private land, part of a broader campaign by Abbott to toughen border enforcement and take Trump's hardline mantle on immigration as the number of crossings remain high.
'To respond to this disaster and secure the rule of law at our Southern border, more manpower is needed,' Abbott wrote in a letter to Maj. Gen. Tracy R. Norris, adjutant general of the Texas National Guard.
Critics have previously voiced concerns of governors using Guard members to take an active role in law enforcement. Other GOP governors have deployed National Guard members to the border in recent months, including South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, a potential 2024 presidential contender who flew to Texas this week to check in on roughly 50 Guard members who volunteered for a 30-day deployment.
Kate Huddleston, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, called Abbott's latest orders 'unusual and extremely troubling.'
'We are concerned for asylum seekers and other migrants who are coming to the United States, and also we are concerned for border residents who have borne the brunt of this law enforcement saturation on the border in the past and are doing so again,' Huddleston said.