Mounting Backlog: Over 11,000 Migrants Stranded in Northern Mexico amidst Border Surge

Despite the thousands of migrants entering the US illegally daily, there are over 11,000 people waiting in shelters and camps on the Mexican side of the border, as reported by community leaders to CNN. With the US divided on immigration policy, these migrants and asylum seekers continue to hope to enter through legal pathways established by the Biden administration. In Tijuana, Mexico, an estimated 3,800 migrants from various countries are staying in shelters, while across the border in Reynosa, Mexico, 3,273 migrants are waiting at Senda De Vida shelters. Nearby in Matamoros, Mexico, about 4,000 migrants are living in camps, shelters, and abandoned homes, according to Glady Cañas of the nonprofit Ayudandoles a Triunfar.

Migrants waiting to claim asylum are feeling "desperate," according to Cañas. Many are relying on the CBP One app to automate scheduling appointments with border patrol.

In recent weeks, US border cities have been overwhelmed by an unprecedented surge of people crossing from Mexico. Federal authorities reported a seven-day average of over 9,600 migrant encounters along the southern border in December, as reported by CNN on Friday. For comparison, the seven-day average reported on November 28 was approximately 6,800 encounters.

According to Cañas, three migrants drowned in the Rio Grande in the Matamoros area in December, but people continue to attempt to cross the river despite the deadly risks. Migrants who opt not to wait for a legal pathway are often driven by hope, fueled by video and voice messages they receive from migrants who have been processed by US immigration authorities and have been released into American communities, she said.

Going back is not an option, immigrants at the border say

CNN

Many migrant families at the southern US border have no choice but to stay, as going back is not an option.

Since May, the US Department of Homeland Security has deported or returned over 445,000 migrants, most of whom crossed the US Southern border. The federal government has closed ports of entry in multiple states and reassigned personnel to transport and process migrants due to limited resources. The Biden Administration also temporarily suspended rail operations in Eagle Pass and El Paso, but those services have since resumed.

A group of migrants who had been enduring cold temperatures in Eagle Pass, Texas, have been cleared and processed in recent days. However, a senior CBP official has warned that the ongoing border surge continues to pose challenges for US Customs and Border Protection. The official stated that the agency has taken multiple measures, including increasing resources, to address the recent surge in Eagle Pass, where thousands of migrant families were observed waiting outside for transportation to immigration processing facilities.

More than 1,000 migrants wait in line to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico on December 18, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Despite the improvements in Eagle Pass, illegal crossings persist, being driven by nefarious individuals who encourage migrants to enter the US southern border between entry points, particularly in rural areas of Arizona, according to the same official.

CNN has discovered that significant numbers of migrants are still arriving at the border by train. According to Sister Isabel Turcios, the head of a migrant shelter in Piedras Negras, Mexico, which is located across the border from Eagle Pass, approximately 1,000 migrants arrived by train on Monday. She mentioned that street violence in Piedras Negras temporarily prevented large groups of migrants from entering the US on Monday.

On Wednesday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and President Biden's Homeland Security Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall in Mexico City.

CNNs Ashley Killough contributed to this report.