‘It’s the easiest illegal border crossing along the Rio Grande!’

Texas sheriff tells how his small town is being overrun by migrants who wait until the river reaches its lowest point and wade across within five minutes

  • The border crisis is nowhere more glaring than in the small Texas town of Del Rio that sits right on the Rio Grande River 
  • At certain times of day the water level is so low – a few feet deep – migrants can wade across from Mexico in five minutes
  • ‘Two months ago we had maybe 20 illegals crossing here a week and now we have anywhere from 60-75 illegals a day,’ Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez told DailyMail.com
  • Sheriff Martinez called the area ‘the easiest illegal border crossing along the Rio Grande’
  • He said that there are days where 75% of his resources are being used at this particular illegal border crossing
  • ‘Our resources are being used to help out with illegal immigration, but I need my deputies to be there in order to keep our citizens safe and to help out our federal partners,’ he said
  • DailyMail.com spoke to the migrants – some of whom were students, a journalist, small business owners and an engineer – who all said they wanted a better life and were frightened of their government
  • Even though the Biden administration has so far refused to use the word ‘crisis’ when it comes to describing the border situation, Sheriff Martinez has no problem saying it…’This IS a crisis’ 

By Alan Butterfield Reporting From Del Rio, Texas For Dailymail.Com

‘Welcome to the USA’

The words are etched on a cement boat ramp that leads from the Rio Grande, and it’s the spot where hundreds of illegal immigrants per week take their first steps onto American soil. The crossing point is on private property where an abandoned house sits on a quiet rural street that runs parallel to the Rio Grande, about 5 miles out of town from Del Rio, Texas, 150 miles southwest of San Antonio. 

Law enforcement has nicknamed it ‘Border Lawn.’ ‘It’s the easiest illegal border crossing along the Rio Grande,’ Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview. In the past few months we’ve had a dramatic increase in illegal border crossings at this point,’ said Martinez, 64, who has been Sheriff of this border county for the past 13 years. ‘Two months ago we had maybe 20 illegals crossing here a week and now we have anywhere from 60-75 illegals a day.’ Del Rio has a population of 36,000 people. It’s counterpart across the Rio Grande, Ciudad Acuna, has a population of 216,000. Martinez says depending on the time of day, the water at this point of the Rio Grande is only a few feet deep in places – making it easy to wade through the water from Mexico to the United States in a matter of minutes.

The border crisis in full swing in the small border town of Del Rio, Texas. The town sits right on the Rio Grande River and at certain times of day the water level is low enough to wade over from Mexico making it the easiest illegal border crossing point in America

The border crisis in full swing in the small border town of Del Rio, Texas. The town sits right on the Rio Grande River and at certain times of day the water level is low enough to wade over from Mexico making it the easiest illegal border crossing point in America

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