EL PASO (NewsNation) — Mexican cartels have been accused of deliberately spreading misinformation online to prompt hundreds of migrants to rush across a major bridge near El Paso, Texas, linking Mexico to the United States on Sunday.
Texas officials testified before House Republicans, who traveled to South Texas Wednesday, that much of this looked coordinated, adding if it is, it was likely instigated by the cartels which are notorious for these tactics.
“These cartels are very adept at understanding that if they can flood our resources, pull Border Patrol agents out of the field, they can create gaps in coverage,” said Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council.
Footage shows the crowd screaming and even jumping in excitement as they filed onto the Paso Del Norte bridge. Aerial videos showed hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants passing through checkpoints on the Mexican side of the border, pushing their way up the bridge leading to El Paso.
The crowd followed reports on social media claiming it was a “day of the migrant” celebration and they would be allowed to enter the U.S.
Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Lt. Chris Olivarez told Fox News Tuesday that drug cartels were trying to flood the border to distract authorities from their smuggling operations.
“Border Patrol is overwhelmed, they’re tied up in processing. So they want to expose more vulnerable gaps along the border, so they can bring across criminals, fugitives or drugs, whatever the case may be,” Olivarez said.
Meanwhile, Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz testified Wednesday that the Department of Homeland Security doesn’t have operational control over the border. He was pressed by lawmakers about who was in charge.
“Who do you think has more operational control of this border? The Department of Homeland Security or the Mexican cartels?” NewsNation reporter Robert Sherman asked the House Committee on Homeland Security.
“It appears that the cartel has more operational control. We know as the Border Patrol agents surge to one part of the border the cartel knows the area that’s insecure,” Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS) answered.
But, DHS pushed back saying that the marginal decrease in encounters seen at the southern border is evidence that they are gaining control of the situation.
“This Administration has surged resources to the border, reducing the number of encounters between ports of entry, disrupting more smuggling operations than ever before, and interdicting more drugs in the last two years than had been stopped in the five years prior,” DHS said in a statement.
However, not everyone is convinced that’s the case.