SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico – During Tuesday’s city council meeting, City Representative and Mayor Pro Tempore Peter Svarzbein requested the City Council’s approval to direct city staff from El Paso to develop a solution in coordination with the City of Sunland Park to mitigate traffic congestion on Frontera Road before Sun River Estates Subdivision Preliminary
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas — Migrants are sitting idle for long periods of time at El Paso International Airport, according to El Paso officials. Director of the El Paso International Airport, Sam Rodriguez, said that there are several improvements underway in response to this issue. According to a city FAQ on the migrant crisis, street releases
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas – As El Paso governments continue to grapple with the latest migrant surge, City Council addressed the largest challenge today, which is money. Today El Paso City Council discussed the rising cost of helping migrants coming through the Borderland. In recent weeks, the Borderland has seen thousands of migrants coming into El
Continue Reading
CNN By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN US officials and representatives of more than a dozen countries in the Western Hemisphere gathered at the White House this week amid concerns over mass migration in the region, a senior administration official told CNN. Monday’s meeting was a follow up to the Summit of the Americas in June when
Continue Reading
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Chihuahua — Officials from Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico and the U.S. participated in “Fandango por la Lectura,” an event to raise awareness about the importance of reading. The event, held at the “Centro Cultural Paso del Norte,” is intended to connect across cultures and countries. This “Fandango” event was organized by the state of
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas – A human smuggling attempt is stopped by alert U. S. Customs and Border Protection Officers at the Paso Del Norte border crossing. On Sept. 25 officers referred a 45-year-old male U.S. citizen to a secondary inspection. During the inspection, the pickup truck was scanned, and the x-ray showed an image of
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas — County Judge Ricardo Samaniego sits down with ABC-7 to discuss the current migrant surge across the Borderland. Samaniego says Border Patrol is apprehending about 2,000 migrants per day, adding that if Title 42 is lifted — the pandemic related health order than expels migrants — then the situation could turn chaotic.
Continue Reading
STILLWATER, Oklahoma – The El Paso Community College (EPCC) cross country teams compete at the Oklahoma State Jamboree. The prestigious competition hosted many university and colleges from across the country. EPCC’s men’s and women’s team both ranked as the top National Junior College Athletic Association school finishing above most other universities at the jamboree. The
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas — With the ongoing migrant surge in the El Paso community, some predict this could have a major economic impact on the Borderland region. Workforce experts told ABC-7, the migrant surge could create a high demand for jobs. Bianca Cervantes, Communications Director at Workforce Solutions Borderplex, told ABC-7 when Afghan refugees were
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas — El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser responded to an open letter from three city representatives who are calling for him to issue a disaster declaration in response to the “mass influx” of migrants. Mayor Leeser said he appreciates their concern but says the action they are calling for is “premature.” “The migrants
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas– As the number of migrants crossing into the U.S. has remained steady this month at about 1,500 a day, Border Patrol created a new temporary processing center to help expedite their transition into the U.S. ABC-7 received a tour of the center and spoke with the Border Patrol Chief for the El
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas – A new executive order issued by Texas Governor Greg Abbott designates Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations. Gov. Abbott also instructed the Texas Department of Public Safety to dismantle the cartel infrastructure as the national fentanyl crisis increases. In addition to the executive order, the Governor sent a letter to President Joe
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas — Three city representatives drafted an open letter to El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser asking him to issue a disaster declaration. In the letter, representatives Claudia Rodriguez, Isabel Salcido and Cissy Lizarraga say the unprecedented surge in migrants is compounding the financial and operational impact on our community. “We need to take
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas – Services have been set for a star high school football player that was injured during a game. Abraham Romero played with the Organ Mountain High School football team. On Aug. 26 was injured in a game against Deming High School. He was thrown to the ground early in the game, and
Continue Reading
JUAREZ, Chihuahua — The El Paso County Animal Welfare Department is developing a low-cost pet wellness clinic in Horizon city. The facility is set to be used to offer low-cost spaying and neutering, microchipping, flea and tick preventative and dewormer services to pets across the county. This clinic will be turned into the home of
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas – Volunteers with El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank have been helping migrants by making sandwiches and packing lunches. CEO of El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank Susan Goodell told ABC-7 that her staff, volunteers and workers from Americorps are doing what they can to help migrants and the people of El
Continue Reading
The El Paso city government may spend $10 million this month processing and transporting recently arrived migrants, 10 times the amount spent between 2019 and August of this year, officials said. The rising costs – now reaching $300,000 a day and expected to grow – come as city officials express concern that the Federal Emergency
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas – Border Patrol continues to report well over 1,000 migrant crossings per day in the El Paso sector. El Paso sector Border Patrol Chief Gloria Chavez reported last week that agents were seeing around 1,300 migrant encounters per day in September. A spokesperson from Border Patrol says that number has gone up
Continue Reading By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN US Customs and Border Protection encounters along the US-Mexico border have already topped 2 million so far this fiscal year, according to newly released agency data, with migration from countries like Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba driving numbers up. In August, migrant encounters jumped to 203,598 along the US southern border, data
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas — El Paso county commissioners are voting on a brand new migrant processing center to help with the surge of migrants the area has seen in recent weeks. The new processing center would be centrally located near the airport and would be able to process around 600 to 700 migrants a day,
Continue Reading
JUAREZ, Chihuahua — Roman Tellez was born and raised in Juarez, famous for selling cotton candy at different events. He has been in this business for over 30 years. Tellez says he entered the business when he inherited it from his grandfather. ABC-7 got the chance to walk with Tellez in Downtown Juarez and talk
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas– In an interview with Jonathan Karl in ABC’s This Week, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said the number of migrants coming to the Borderland has been continuously increasing. However, he said, migrants are no longer on the streets. He said Friday the city encountered nearly 2,000 migrants on one day, 80 percent
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas — City officials gave members of the media a tour of the Migrant Welcome Center in northeast El Paso. The center is managed by the City of El Paso and the Office of Emergency Management. The Borderland has seen an increase in migrants from Venezuela, placing a strain on the area’s shelter
Continue Reading By Kristina Sgueglia, Miguel Marquez, Carolyn Sung and Jason Hanna, CNN The roughly 50 migrants who were sent by plane to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts by Florida’s governor this week were transported to a military base Friday to receive shelter and humanitarian support, officials said. The migrants willingly boarded buses Friday morning — arranged by
Continue Reading CNN, WBZ, WHDH, WCVB, WEAR By Jasmine Wright, Priscilla Alvarez and Kate Sullivan, CNN Biden administration officials are set to meet Friday to discuss a multitude of critical immigration issues as the administration responds to Republican governors sending migrants north in protest of President Joe Biden‘s border policies. A White House official said the meeting
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas — The Diocese of El Paso is in dire need of volunteers and is accepting donations to help deal with the increase in migrants coming to the Borderland. An El Paso Catholic Diocese spokesman said they are accepting donations, including blankets, clothes, food, toiletries, cleaning supplies and money. They are especially in
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas — El Paso County Commissioners are set to discuss the increase of migrants in El Paso County. An emergency item was added to Thursday’s agenda in response to the surge of asylum seekers entering our region. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have released hundreds of migrants to the streets as a
Continue Reading By Jason Hanna, Priscilla Alvarez, Lauren Koenig and Gabe Cohen, CNN Texas’ governor says his state intentionally sent two buses of migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in the nation’s capital — resulting in a Thursday morning arrival that surprised volunteers who said they weren’t prepared to receive them at that site. The drop-off
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas – A Stratford, Texas man was sentenced to life in prison on numerous counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. Court documents show Johnny George Gonzalez, 35, was using the Dark Web forum to share links to digital storage folders containing child pornography and child erotica. The case was referred to the
Continue Reading
EL PASO, Texas – ABC-7 received a statement from Border Patrol that just over half of the 1,300 encounters they’re reporting daily here in the El Paso sector are from Venezuela. Wednesday, ABC-7 crews saw dozens of migrants sitting underneath the highway right near the U.S./Mexico border. And a spokesman for Border Patrol said Border Patrol set
Continue Reading