9 migrants flown to El Paso from Rio Grande Valley test positive for virus

EL PASO, Texas -- ABC-7 has learned that as many as nine migrants flown into El Paso from the Rio Grande Valley have tested positive for Covid-19.

The nine are among hundreds being brought to El Paso by the U.S. Border Patrol because of a surge in migrants requesting asylum in southern Texas, which has filled shelters there.

El Paso Fire Chief and Emergency Management head Mario D'agostino confirmed the nine positives were discovered during rapid Covid-19 testing conducted at El Paso's Annunciation House shelter for migrants.

Those migrants testing Covid-positive were taken to an El Paso hotel where homeless and migrants with the virus are kept quarantined, safely away from the general public, D'agostino said.

Word of nine migrants testing positive upon arrival in El Paso comes on the heels of a report about roughly 100 migrants with Covid-19 who were released into the public in Brownsville and permitted to board buses bound for other parts of the U.S.

That report drew harsh criticism from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who claimed the Biden administration was releasing migrants with the coronavirus into Texas cities.

Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Landon Hutchens told ABC-7 that Border Patrol personnel conduct initial screenings of migrants at the border for symptoms associated with Covid-19.

Border Patrol agents indicated to ABC-7 that the initial evaluation often amounts to simply checking migrants for high temperatures, and asking if they have experienced any symptoms associated with the virus.

The CBP spokesperson didn't say anything to suggest that migrants were actually tested before boarding planes bound for El Paso and deferred further questions to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.