El Paso Border Patrol Agents detain more than 400 migrants in five minutes

Border Patrol agents in El Paso apprehended two large groups of undocumented immigrants consisting of more than 400 people during a five minute span, federal officials said Tuesday.

The two groups primarily consisted of Central American families and unaccompanied juveniles.

At about 2:45 a.m. on March 19, 2019, agents encountered the first group consisting of 194 migrants. The group was encountered by agents at the border wall just west of Bowie High School.

Just five minutes later at 2:50 A.M., agents working farther west encountered a second group of 252 people who crossed illegally near Downtown El Paso.

In the last 30 days, the U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector is averaging 570 apprehensions a day, with 90 percent of those being in the El Paso Metropolitan Area.

“These numbers continue to stretch the resources available to the U.S. Border Patrol to deal with this influx and the challenges that come with it,” said officials.