Border Patrol expedites migrant processing with temporary outdoor site near Chihuahuita neighborhood

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 Paso sector, Gloria Chavez, who said one of their biggest concerns for the migrants making their way to the area was that they started staging under the freeway, close by active train tracks.

Chief Chavez said they wanted to utilize the area and be as efficient as possible to get them processed.

For many migrants, this begins their journey into the U.S.

From the outdoor center, they will be sent to a holding facility and later to a different pathway like non-governmental organizations, where they make other travel arrangements.

Chavez said outside processing is something new for the department in El Paso.

“Here today, behind me, you're going to see new types of technologies and systems to do outside processing, something we never used before in the past in 2019 with the previous surge here,” said Chavez. “These are going to help us be more efficient in our processing so that we don’t delay or have high groups of people under this bridge today or tomorrow.”