Texas DPS to effectively shut down access to and from Mexico

Del Rio Port of Entry inundated with migrants - 12,000+ camped beneath local bridge

DEL RIO, Texas (CBS News/KENS) - Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano announced Friday the city and Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers will close toll booths at the Port of Entry Bridge, effectively shutting down access to and from Mexico as more asylum-seeking migrants arrive in Del Rio.

Earlier this week, the KENS 5 Border Team obtained video of migrants under the International Bridge, where officials were having them wait until they could be processed for entry into the country.

At that time, the crowd was made up of nearly 6,000 migrants. As of Friday, Mayor Lozano says that number has increased to 12,700 migrants, including another encampment established by Weir Dam.

Officials told KENS 5 the staging site under the bridge is temporary.

On Thursday, Governor Abbott said in a statement that he had ordered six points of entry at the Texas/Mexico border "shut down".

“I have directed the Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to surge personnel and vehicles to shut down six points of entry along the southern border to stop these [migrant] caravans from overrunning our state,” Abbott said in an emailed statement.

But a CBP spokesperson said the federal government — which operates ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border — has no plans to shut down any ports of entry.

Later Thursday, Governor Abbott said in another statement that the federal government is going in the wrong direction on border security.

"Six hours after U.S. Customs and Border Protection requested help from Texas to close ports of entry and secure the border, the Biden Administration has now flip-flopped to a different strategy that abandons border security and instead makes it easier for people to cross illegally and for cartels to exploit the border. The Biden Administration is in complete disarray and is handling the border crisis as badly as the evacuation from Afghanistan. I have directed the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to maintain their presence at and around ports of entry to deter crossings."