CBP: Nearly 1,000 Central American migrants detained in El Paso Wednesday

Border Patrol officials tell ABC-7 they have seen a record number of immigrant families crossing the border into El Paso Wednesday.

Border Patrol spokesman Joe Romero told ABC-7 Thursday that nearly 1,000 migrants were detained in El Paso Wednesday.

An unaccompanied 2-year-old child was found with one of the groups, the U.S. Border Patrol said. Federal immigration authorities are working with international agencies to locate the child’s parents.

Border Patrol agents also apprehended two convicted sex offenders trying to enter the U.S. with the groups of migrants, officials said.

Border Patrol Agent George Gomez Wednesday told ABC-7 one of the things he and other agents noticed on Wednesday, that compared to previous days and past apprehensions, Wednesday’s migrant groups are immediately requesting asylum even before they are processed.

“They know what to say, or they’re being coached, is our educated guess,” said Agent Gomez, “Based on the interviews that we’re having with these individuals, it seems a lot of them already know the process or they’re being coached as to what to say in order to get to that second step.”

ABC-7 spoke with a group of immigrants coming from Guatemala who say they are not going too shelters once they arrive in Ciudad Juarez because they have learned the shelters are filled to capacity.

An official with the Juarez Red Cross told ABC-7 immigrants are staying under bridges and near railroad tracks. The Red Cross official believes there are as many as 6,000 immigrants staying in shelters, hotels and living on the streets of Juarez.

Juarez city officials have not officially confirmed the information.

“Those numbers are really hard to confirm,” said Agent Gomez, “So we’ve seen reports of anywhere from two thousand, three thousand, so six thousand would be extremely high.”

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