(NewsNation) — Images obtained by NewsNation show migrants near the border attempting to evade law enforcement at night in Texas.
A group of 13 was spotted on a local resident’s camera.
However, the Terrell County Sheriff’s Office and Border Patrol apprehended and arrested the group, who were all wearing camouflage from head to toe.
It can sometimes take days to track down people entering the border who don’t check in with Customs and Border Patrol officials. The terrain is mostly rocky, making it very hard to see footprints.
Customs and Border Patrol reported more than 800,000 so-called “gotaways” in fiscal year 2023. As of late March, they had seen 140,000 so far in 2024.
That means around 1.8 million people have illegally crossed the border, undetected, under the Biden administration.
The pressure being put on border officials in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, because of an influx of migrant crossings, coupled with low manpower, have made border officials’ jobs harder, Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland said.
“Here in the past week, we’ve had a lot of wind, we’ve had some rain, and then that will completely erase any sign that’s left on the ground, therefore making it harder for agents to actually get out and track it,” Cleveland said.
In Terrell County, there were over 30 groups seen in the last eight days, though Cleveland said that’s only a fraction of who is out there.