Uptick in influx of migrants at US-Mexico border

Washington, Sep 20 (IANS) At least 4,000 migrants moved into Eagle Pass, a border city in the US state of Texas, prompting Texas Governor Greg Abbott to declare "an invasion" at the US-Mexico border.

"I officially declared an invasion at our border because of Biden's policies," the Republican governor said on X, formerly known as Twitter, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We are building a border wall, razor wire and marine barriers. We are also repelling migrants," he said, repeatedly calling the White House border policy a "failure."

The number of migrants crossing the southern border into the US has surged rapidly and border officials have made more than 45,000 migrant encounters in the last five days alone both at the ports of entry and between them, according to a Fox News report.

The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it will offer temporary legal status to more than 470,000 Venezuelan migrants who entered the US by July 31.

The designation will speed up the process for eligible migrants to obtain US work permits to ease the pressure on New York, Chicago and other cities struggling to support migrants with strained shelter and social services.