Hundreds of illegal immigrants breached the barrier set up by Texas Governor Greg Abbott along the Rio Grande River in El Paso, after Texas National Guard soldiers failed to repel them. Abbott wrote in a post on the platform "X" about the increase in illegal immigrants in El Paso: "The Texas National Guard and the Department of Public Safety quickly regained control and doubled the barbed wire barriers. The National Guard has been directed to apprehend every illegal immigrant involved in criminal trespassing and property destruction."
This violation came just days after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a commentary on SB 4, a Texas law that allows state and local police to arrest and even deport individuals suspected of being in the United States without legal authorization. The ruling from the appeals court panel was 2-1 on March 19, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for the controversial state law to take effect on Tuesday, allowing Texas authorities to begin implementing the measure.
Immigrants told reporters that National Guard soldiers were forcibly pushing them behind the barbed wire barriers on U.S. soil. The situation led to skirmishes between the immigrants and soldiers as they attempted to reach the border wall. U.S. immigration law allows immigrants to surrender to border patrol to apply for asylum.
