By: Kenny Darr
Saturday September 23, 2023
A migrant crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border is seeing a new surge of migrants, many in search of asylum, entering the United States in near-record numbers in recent days.
"I'm from Somalia… Somalia is still [under] civil war. Fighting, fighting with the government, so many issues. That's why we [left]," said Somalian migrant Abdi Yousif.
For officials working in the Tucson sector of Customs and Border Protection, resources are stretching thin as they race to process the overwhelming amount of migrants.
Officials say they're now seeing about 1,700 crossings per day.
"It's imperative that we do that for the safety of the migrants, for the safety of our workforce and so that our agents can get back out into the field to patrol the border," said Justin Delatorre, the Deputy Chief Patrol Agent for the Tucson sector.
Many of the migrants are bussed to other shelters across the Tucson sector for processing once they cross into the U.S. due to the overwhelming amount.
Yousif said "They say you must wait for the bus. There's a bus that's going to pick you [up] here. So I don't know where it's going to bring us."
But as process centers reach their limit, border patrol says some migrants are given court dates, and then released into southern Arizona communities.
"When we don't have detention space available to hold migrants during their adjudication process, we then will release those migrants on their own with a court date to report for their immigration hearing," said Delatorre.
The releases into Arizona communities are sounding the alarm for aid groups who say they weren't given a heads-up. However, CBP officials say they are in constant communication with governmental and non-governmental agencies.