Earlier this morning, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez and I co-hosted a discussion with DHS Secretary (Alejandro) Mayorkas regarding the recent surge in the number of migrants crossing into Brownsville.
Thank you to Commissioner Nurith Galonsky , the Office of Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr. and Commissioner John Cowen for attending, as well as our great NGO partners Team Brownsville, Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville, Ozonam Center and Good Neighbor Settlement House.
In less than two weeks, the city has received more than 20,000 people. During that same time, we stood up a processing facility in coordination with Border Patrol to efficiently and safely transport these individuals out of our community and keep them off the streets.
Today, the Secretary announced over $4 million in additional funding to assist the city with its efforts in getting migrants to their final destinations. Beginning May 12, the penalties for illegally crossing our border will increase significantly. Thereafter, only those who have followed the process established by the federal government will be allowed to cross through our ports of entry. I appreciate the Secretary visiting with us today and for his continued support for the City of Brownsville.
The Biden administration announced earlier this week it would deploy 1,500 agents to assist with the efforts to enforce immigration laws at our border.
“We will, by May 11, finalize the rule that we published in a proposed format, that provides that individuals who do not access our lawful pathways will be presumed to be ineligible for asylum, and will have a higher burden of proof to overcome that presumption,” Secretary Mayorkas said.
Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez. The column first appeared on Mayor Mendez’s social media platforms.
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