500 migrants illegally enter U.S. through El Paso

UPDATE: The City of El Paso sent a statement to ABC-7 Monday, saying:

"As the City advised the public last week, we are seeing another migrant surge in our region and across the nation’s borders. Over the last seven days the region has seen a spike in encounters at the border averaging over 1,200 per day.

Community releases to NGOs, the County and City have been averaging over 1,100 per day. The City of El Paso and Office of Emergency Management (OEM) continue to provide overflow emergency sheltering to support local NGOs, the County’s Migrant Services Support Center and receiving direct releases from CBP. OEM is currently operating hotels with over 900 migrants being provided food and shelter as they secure and await their travel.

The City and OEM have provided shelter for more than 4,200 migrants over the last seven days in hotels. Roving teams continue to assist families on the streets and OEM staff remains embedded in several NGO shelters.

The City and OEM are working closely with CBP/ICE, the County and NGOs to coordinate ongoing efforts. Due to the recent surge efforts, no street releases have been made in the El Paso region like we are seeing in California and Arizona.  We are monitoring the situation closely and will provide updates as they become available.

At this time, we are using hotels as they are more humane than opening emergency shelters especially, for families.

Out of an overabundance of caution the OEM has sent up an overflow facility at Nations Toben Recreation Center to ensure we did not see any street releases. We don’t anticipate using the facility and it remains unused at this time.

It should be noted, the City and OEM have multiple plans and operation in place to address different scenarios and ensure the community’s public safety and wellbeing, while also provide a humane approach to migrants traveling through our community."

Laura Cruz Acosta, City of El Paso spokesperson.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- An official with the Border Patrol El Paso sector confirms a large group of 500 migrants illegally crossed into the United States Monday morning.

Officials said the group is made up of single adult men and families from Venezuela.

The group will be taken to a U.S. Border Patrol processing facility and processed accordingly.

U.S. Border Patrol said migrants can face consequences if they cross into the country without property travel documents. According to agents, these migrants face expedited removal.