PHOTOS: El Paso, Juarez border sees influx of immigration, enforcement efforts

By Tom Hellauer 02/05/2024 | updated 2 years ago

Immigrants probe areas of recently-installed barbed wire while members of the Texas National Guard watch from a truck on the northern bank of the Rio Grande between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Immigration between the Juarez and El Paso borders is up in recent years, with shelters, law enforcement and immigrants themselves bearing the brunt of the humanitarian crisis.

Immigrants hoping to enter the United States wait in a staging area on the northern bank of the Rio Grande river just south of El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Most sections of the border wall are built slightly north of the actual border on the U.S. side so Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security agents can perform maintenance on the structure. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

A woman and young child await more members of their traveling party on the northern bank of the Rio Grande between the United States and Mexico borders just south of El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

A group of immigrant prepare to cross the Rio Grande River between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. The area has become an immigration hotspot, and particularly deadly for immigrants. Large groups of immigrants have died in river crossings, from exposure in the desert and from cartel activity. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez, surveils the landscape near Texas’ borders with New Mexico and Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Immigrants look for ways to cross a series of recently-erected barbed wire groupings to enter a processing and staging area on the northern bank of the Rio Grande River between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

A young woman crosses the Rio Grande in hopes of entering the United States between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Immigrants regroup after wading across the Rio Grande River just south of El Paso Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

An ICE agent escorts a group of men being deported back across a bridge between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, Denver Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Traffic waits in lines to enter the United States on one of three bridges between the Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Wait times have ballooned in recent years as increased immigration has caused agents to spend more time in processing. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Immigrants probe sections of recently erected barbed wire while a member of the Texas National Guard watches on in a truck between the Juarez and El Paso border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Dust clouds an emergency shelter constructed for immigrants in Juarez, Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Barbed wire sits atop a section of border wall built by a private group near the Texas, New Mexico border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez surveils the landscape near the Texas, New Mexico and Mexican borders on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

The sun rises over El Paso, Texas on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

A section of border wall sits near the New Mexico and Texas borders on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Texas allowed a private group to fundraise and build a section of border wall near the state’s shared border with New Mexico several years ago as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Border Patrol agents, Erik Hernandez, left, and Orlando Marrero-Rubio surveil the landscape near the New Mexico, Texas and Mexico borders on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Border Patrol agents, Erik Hernandez, left, and Orlando Marrero-Rubio examine a high traffic area with an automated surveillance tower (AST) that has remote sensing cameras that feed to a control center monitored by Border Patrol agents on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

A Border Patrol agent sits in a parked vehicle overlooking a valley where immigrants have crossed from Juarez, Mexico in recent years. on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

A section of border wall near the Texas and New Mexico borders has seen increased technological capabilities in recent years in the form of automated surveillance towers as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Juarez, Mexico sits across a section of border wall near the Texas and New Mexico border on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

The Rio Grande River separates much of the Texas and Mexico border and has become more militarized in recent years under the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, including the installation and maintenance of barbed wire obstacles as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Border Patrol agent, Erik Hernandez, waits for his partner to open a gate into a section of border wall near the Rio Grande River in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

The, ‘Monumento a la Mexicanidad,’ or, ‘Monument to Mexicanness,’ in Jaurez, Mexico symbolizes the first Mexican President, Benito Juarez’s, efforts to unite Aztec and Spanish cultures in one country as seen on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Just across the Mexican border sits Juarez’s gigantic ‘X’ statue, created by artist, Enrique Carbajal González, to symbolize the pairing of Mexican and Aztec cultures and as a symbol of hope for the harrowed border town on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024 from El Paso, Texas’ Murchison Roger Park. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Passersby take shade under a building in downtown El Paso on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Father Rafael Garcia sees a connection to references to assisting the poor and needy in the scripture to his work in sheltering and providing services to migrants on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. Immigrants are known to ask where Garcia’s place of worship, Sacred Heart Church, is when turning themselves over to U.S. border officials. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Sacred Heart Church in El Paso, Texas has housed thousands of immigrants in recent years and received private donations to continue their efforts as seen on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

El Paso, Texas Mayor, Oscar Leeser, left, talks to city councilmember Art Fierro following the conclusion of the public comment portion of the city council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

El Paso city councilmember, Art Fierro, right and Mayor, Oscar Leeser, center, talk to a constituent, Patricia Osmond, about immigration and other matters following the conclusion of the public comment portion of the El Paso City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

A large mural by artists Victor Ving and Lisa Beggs has become an iconic landmark of El Paso, featuring several notable buildings and other notable features of the border town on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Oscar Perea, right, and his mother, Maria Perea, left, respectively manage and own a restaurant near one of El Paso’s largest immigrant shelters as seen on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. The pair told the Denver Gazette while they and the first Venezuelan arrivals they encountered shared some culture shock, they have come to thrive with frequent business and support from the immigrant community, even going as far to serve more Venezuelan cuisine to appeal to them more. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Just behind the El Paso skyline sits Jaurez, Mexico, where many Venezuelan immigrants have entered the country before taking buses to Denver. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Three connecting bridges between El Paso, Texas and Jaurez, Mexico have seen increased travel times as an influx of immigration has stressed processing, customs and other operations in the area as seen on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Mario D’Agostino speaks to press about immigration funding at El Paso City Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

A Border Patrol trucks sits unoccupied near the New Mexico-Texas border on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024. (Tom Hellauer, The Gazette) (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott erected multiple strands of barbed wire near Texas’ border with New Mexico after immigrants began crossing through the area to reach El Paso, Texas. The Texas Tribune estimated the new wire runs about two miles before easing. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

John Martin is the executive director of the Opportunity Center for the Homeless in El Paso, Texas and has helped operate a shelter since before the first large waves of Venezuelan immigrants began their journeys to the United States in 2022. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Marisa Limón Garza is the executive director of Las Americas, a legal advocacy group for immigrants based in El Paso, Texas. Garza likened Las Americas and other non profits work in the deep red state as a David vs. Goliath battle. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

In recent years Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has implemented the use of automated surveillance towers or AST’s to help monitor areas of immigration traffic to compliment officers on the ground and other methods of tracking border crossings as seen on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (TomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g)

Tags ice immigration u.s. immigration and customs enforcement

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