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Border Patrol opens checkpoints in West Texas and New Mexico after being forced to shut them down for months

Border Patrol opens checkpoints in West Texas and New Mexico after being forced to shut them down for months

Border Patrol in one sector of the southern border is opening multiple checkpoints that have been closed for months, after getting more money and manpower to do its job, according to a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statement.

"In March 2019, due to the sharp increase of illegal aliens entering in the El Paso Sector’s area of responsibility, all checkpoints heading out of the area were closed," U.S. Border Patrol El Paso sector said in a Monday morning press release. "This allowed the various stations to provide support in the processing and care of the people who are in our custody."

In total, there are six checkpoints in the El Paso Border Patrol sector: one in El Paso County, Texas, two in Otero County, N.M., and three in Doña Ana County, N.M., as explained in a previous story at CR. The statement says that all six checkpoints in the sector "have reopened and will be operating at full capacity" as of Monday.

"While the El Paso Sector is still experiencing significantly higher traffic in our area," the statement explains, "the funding for additional infrastructure, along with personnel support from government agencies throughout the country has allowed a significant number of agents to return to their primary assignments, to include immigration checkpoints."

The El Paso sector encompasses almost 270 miles of the southern border and includes all of New Mexico as well as the west Texas counties of Hudspeth and El Paso.

Shutting down those checkpoints caused considerable public safety concerns for local law enforcement and residents in the area, CR's Daniel Horowitz reported back in May.

“I’ve never seen all these checkpoints closed in my life, and I’ve been in Lincoln and Otero Counties for 30 years,” said Lincoln County, New Mexico, Sheriff Robert Shepperd. “I have friends who are out on ranches who now have to lock their doors and do things they shouldn’t have to do. It’s eerie watching these checkpoints look like ghost towns.”


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