Texas has reportedly arrested another 70 of the migrants who stormed the El Paso border and assaulted National Guard members earlier this month.
The 70 migrants have been arrested on misdemeanor rioting charges related to the March 21 incident, the New York Post reported Friday.
The violent incident was caught on video, which shows a large group of adult male migrants tearing down fences with razor wire and pushing up against several National Guardsmen, eventually overwhelming them and rushing up to a tall border wall.
Texas had already charged nine migrants on Wednesday who were allegedly involved in the assault. They face charges of inciting a riot, damaging property over $2,500, and assault on members of the National Guard.
NEW: Texas has arrested 70 more migrants who rioted at the southern border in El Paso, Texas and assaulted National Guard troops.
Glad to see someone is taking action.
Texas charged nine of the migrants on Wednesday involved in the riot.
Knives and shanks were… pic.twitter.com/LXgME5ivrX
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 29, 2024
Earlier this week, Texas surged soldiers and resources to boost border security operations in El Paso.
We continue to reinforce existing border barriers and repel illegal crossings.
Texas will hold the line.
More: https://t.co/BmQv9or3HB pic.twitter.com/ZYaYm8uttz
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) March 29, 2024
The first migrant to be charged was Junior Evaristo-Benitez, 21, of Honduras, who allegedly stepped on a National Guard soldier’s knee “purposefully and with malice.”
About 200 migrants are being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Texas reportedly wants to charge them all.
However, federal authorities “are not being as cooperative as Border Patrol,” an official reportedly told the Post.
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The majority of the migrants involved in the border rushing incident were men from Venezuela, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Just before the migrants rushed the border, National Guardsmen reportedly began directing the groups back toward Mexico, at which point they began to rush the soldiers.
One migrant allegedly tried to grab a soldier’s firearm. Knives and shanks were also later reportedly confiscated from some of the migrants.
In response to the migrants rushing the border, Governor Greg Abbott (R) deployed 200 tactical border force soldiers to El Paso, who arrived on Tuesday.
Texas also recently installed more border wire in El Paso.
The southern border has been in a state of crisis for years under the Biden administration.
Last year, 2.5 million migrants were apprehended crossing or trying to cross the southern border, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The administration has released more than 2.3 million border crossers into the country since 2021.
Meanwhile, more than 96,000 “known gotaways,” migrants who were detected but not caught, have reportedly crossed the southern border just between October 1 and January.
The border crisis has resulted also in tens of thousands of migrants descending on major cities like New York City, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.
New York City has seen more than 183,000 migrants show up since the spring of 2022. Chicago has seen more than 37,000 migrants. Both cities have spent tens of millions of dollars on food, shelter, and other migrant-related costs.