Huge hole is cut in El Paso barrier to let migrants pour through

A gaping hole cut into the border fence between Mexico and the US reveals the ease at which migrants can cross the border illegally – regardless of the strict Title 42 rules.

On a stretch of the border fence just four miles from downtown El Paso, Texas, traffickers cut the large opening close to a row of abandoned buildings.

The makeshift crossing point, beside the US-85 highway, was discovered by DailyMail.com just one hour after the Supreme Court ruled Title 42 will remain in effect. The 4ft-by-4ft hole appeared freshly cut – suggesting it had been used by migrants to cross illegally on Tuesday.

Once through, migrants could easily disappear into the US. The area where the hole was cut was not being patrolled when a reporter and photographer found the opening.

A gaping hole cut into the border fence between Mexico and the US reveals the ease at which migrants can cross the border illegally – regardless of the strict Title 42 rules

A police officer who was alerted to the discovery was unfazed and said such openings are no surprise to border patrollers. He said there was no need to raise an alarm as cameras which monitor the border would have spotted the access point.

The method is one of several novel techniques which migrants are using to cross into the US illegally.

In another shocking discovery on Monday night, a DailyMail.com photographer saw a man roll through a hole which had been dug beneath the border fence in El Paso. The tiny, cramped gap at a patch of wasteland near railway tracks by the Rio Grande river was just wide enough for one person to crawl through.

The following day, the hole had been loosely filled in an apparent attempt to conceal it. A white towel was draped across the spot to mark its location.

El Paso locals also told of smugglers using the underground sewer systems which connect the two countries.

‘You see dozens come up through manholes like this,’ said one local man, speaking just yards from the border fence.

Residents of the city have spoken previously about the shocking sight of groups of migrants emerging from sewer points in the street. Rosalinda Tapia told KVIA: ‘They are not using the river anymore. They are using the water tunnels to come in.’ 

In another shocking discovery on Monday night, a DailyMail.com photographer saw a man roll through a hole which had been dug beneath the border fence in El Paso. The tiny, cramped gap at a patch of wasteland near railway tracks by the Rio Grande river was just wide enough for one person to crawl through

El Paso locals also told of smugglers using the underground sewer systems which connect the two countries

Pictured: A hole cut into the US Mexican border fence in El Paso, Texas

The makeshift crossing point, beside the US-85 highway, was discovered by DailyMail.com just one hour after the Supreme Court ruled Title 42 will remain in effect. The 4ft-by-4ft hole appeared freshly cut – suggesting it had been used by migrants to cross illegally on Tuesday

On a stretch of the border fence just four miles from downtown El Paso, Texas, traffickers cut the large opening close to a row of abandoned buildings

Once through, migrants could easily disappear into the US. The area where the hole was cut was not being patrolled when a reporter and photographer found the opening

A police officer who was alerted to the discovery was unfazed and said such openings are no surprise to border patrollers. He said there was no need to raise an alarm as cameras which monitor the border would have spotted the access point

She said the migrants emerge and hide, then make a call arranging for someone in the US ‘to come pick them up’.

A set of ladders were hidden near one crossing point where migrants purportedly use the deep sewers to make the crossing. 

Several hours before the Supreme Court’s decision to maintain Title 42 into 2023, columns of migrants were waiting anxiously at the Mexican border for an announcement.

The groups included families with babies and young children. It’s thought many were waiting at the border for the announcement that Title 42 would be canned – making it easier for the people to remain in the US after crossing.

The decision leaves thousands of migrants who were waiting in Mexican cities along the border for Title 42 to end. They must now attempt to cross and face the prospect of almost immediate deportation – or risk illegal entry into the country.

The method is one of several novel techniques which migrants are using to cross into the US illegally

Pictured: A sewer used by migrants at the US Mexican border in El Paso, Texas, December 27,2022

Some of the fencing has been repaired but police have said the holes pop up frequently along the border

Residents of the city have spoken previously about the shocking sight of groups of migrants emerging from sewer points in the street. Rosalinda Tapia told KVIA : ‘They are not using the river anymore. They are using the water tunnels to come in’

Several hours before the Supreme Court’s decision to maintain Title 42 into 2023, columns of migrants were waiting anxiously at the Mexican border for an announcement

The groups included families with babies and young children. It’s thought many were waiting at the border for the announcement that Title 42 would be canned – making it easier for the people to remain in the US after crossing

In an aerial view, Texas National Guard troops block migrants from entering a high-traffic border crossing area along Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas on December 20

Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the more liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson to vote against keeping it in place. 

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said: ‘As required by today’s Supreme Court order, the Title 42 public health order will remain in effect and individuals who attempt to enter the United States unlawfully will continue to be expelled to Mexico or their home country.

‘People should not listen to the lies of smugglers who take advantage of vulnerable migrants, putting lives at risk. The border is not open, and we will continue to fully enforce our immigration laws.

‘We will continue to manage the border, but we do so within the constraints of a decades-old immigration system that everyone agrees is broken. We need Congress to pass the comprehensive immigration reform legislation President Biden proposed the day he took office.’

States led by Republican attorneys general of Arizona and Louisiana filed an emergency request last week after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit turned down their request to intervene in the case to argue against its end.

Pictured migrants eat and wait for help while camping on a downtown street in El Paso, Texas, December 27

Migrants from Venezuela line up in the cold weather for hot drinks and food from volunteers at a makeshift camp on the U.S.-Mexico Border in Matamoros, Mexico, Friday, Dec. 23

Biden administration officials have repeatedly insisted that the federal government is ready for the end of Title 42, but Republicans and even some Democrats have claimed that President Joe Biden nor his advisers are grasping the full urgency of the situation.

White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre issued a statement after the court’s order: ‘The Supreme Court’s order today keeps the current Title 42 policy in place while the Court reviews the matter in 2023. We will, of course, comply with the order and prepare for the Court’s review.