U.S. Customs and Border Protection responded to a video appearing to show a Border Patrol agent cutting through razor wire on private property to allow migrants through.
Fox News correspondent Bill Melguin posted the video Friday and said it is from a source in Eagle Pass, Texas, and shows the federal official cutting the razor wire placed by the state in order to let the migrants enter for processing after they crossed illegally.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said the video was taken on private property, where they have permission from the owner to place razor wire and arrest migrants for trespassing.
A CBP official told the reporter that a Border Patrol boat encountered a migrant group, which included several small children, and the wire was cut in order to quickly apprehend them and remove them from the heat.
"It is a federal responsibility to enforce U.S. immigration laws. U.S. Border Patrol continues to enforce U.S. immigration laws. The individuals had already crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico, were on U.S. soil, and are subject to U.S. immigration laws," a CBP spokesperson said. "Individuals who cross unlawfully will be subject to the lawful pathways rule, which places common-sense conditions on asylum eligibility, with certain exceptions. Those who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States will be removed."
While the federal government's stance is that migrants on U.S. soil must be processed and cannot be repelled or turned away, the Texas Department of Public Safety's position under Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is to physically block migrants from coming.
So far this fiscal year, which runs from October 2022 through September 2023, border patrol officials have encountered over 1.6 million illegal migrants at the southern border, data shows.
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