Border Patrol apprehends 430 people in 5 minutes

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - U.S. Border Patrol agents in Texas apprehended two large groups of illegal immigrants consisting of over 400 people within five minutes.  It happened in the early morning hours of March 19th in the El Paso sector.

Agents encountered the first group of 194 illegal crossers at approximately 2:45 a.m. The group was encountered by agents at the border wall just west of Bowie High School.

Just five minutes later at 2:50 a.m., agents working farther west encountered a second group of 252 people who crossed illegally near Downtown El Paso.

In all, agents had already taken over 430 people into custody within the first three hours in what appeared to be only the beginning of another busy day for the El Paso Sector Border Patrol.

The groups, like many others before, were comprised primarily of Central American families and unaccompanied juveniles.

In the last 30 days, the U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector is averaging 570 apprehensions a day, with 90 percent of those being in the El Paso Metropolitan Area. The agency says those numbers continue to stretch the resources available to the U.S. Border Patrol to deal with the influx and the challenges that come with it.