U.S. asylum process for migrants usually begins at makeshift facility near port of entry

The makeshift tents that once housed migrants near the Paso del Norte were removed, but groups continue to be processed at the location.

Over the weekend, ABC-7 noticed a new group of asylum seekers was spotted lined up in between chained-link fences.

Border Patrol Agent George Gomez said that’s the first stop for the migrants who either surrendered themselves at the port of entry or were apprehended in the area.

They’re all provided with personal hygiene items along with pillows and blankets, for a more “hospitable” stay, Gomez said.

“There, they go through the initial process of getting screened – the medical portion – getting taken care of,” Gomez said. “From that point on, we then transfer them to any of the neighboring stations that we have in the El Paso sector.”

There are eleven processing stations in the El Paso sector from Lorsdburg to Clint, including one in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Gomez said. Migrants will be taken to the different stations based on their capacity.

Gomez said 90 percent of the asylym seekers enter the U.S. through a specific 15-mile stretch in El Paso. “Between Executive (in West-Central El Paso) east to approximately the Midway exit on the Border Highway,” Gomez explained. “We’re seeing almost 90,000 apprehensions this fiscal year so far.”

That accounts for 90 percent of the more than 100,000 apprehensions agents have already completed.

With low resources, Border patrol agents are pulled from certain areas leading migrants to “exploit” portions of patrolled land, Gomez said.

He added that law enforcement officials from Juarez have been posted up in certain area, but that just changes the patter the migrants us to enter the United States.

The next step on the journey into the country lands migrants at the new processing center near Hondo Pass in Northeast El Paso.

While different law enforcement agencies under the Department of Homeland Security process migrants at the different stations, but all end up under the care of the same agency with slight differences in administrative procedures.

“We basically transfer the individuals as well as their files over to ICE,” Gomez said. “That’s basically their last stop.”

The majority of migrants do not have a criminal background, Gomez said, adding the flow of the migrant north will not decrease until action is taken at the highest level.

“Until Congress acts, we expect the numbers to increase even more,” Gomez said.