The number of migrant detainees who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the Rio Grande Valley sector of Texas has soared by 900 percent this month, according to a new report.
Fox News reported, “There were 135 detainees who tested positive in the first two weeks of July alone, marking a 900% increase in confirmed positive cases compared to the previous 14 months.”
BREAKING: FOX News has confirmed that the number of Covid-positive detainees in @CBPRGV sector has increased 900% vs the previous 14 months… 135 positive detainees IN JUST THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF JULY… RGV accounts for 60% of confirmed cases in entire USBP @USBPChiefRGV
— Griff Jenkins (@GriffJenkins) July 20, 2021
The report added, “The RGV sector is one of the main destinations for migrants crossing the border, seeing more than [2,000] apprehensions each day and accounting for 60% of confirmed positive detainees in the U.S. Border Patrol custody.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and other Republican senators introduced a bill last week to extend Title 42, a provision that allows the U.S. to turn away illegal immigrants at the nation’s southern border due to the risk of their spreading COVID-19.
The Securing the Homeland from International Entrants with Life-threatening Diseases, or SHIELD, Act would continue the public health protections enacted in March 2020, according to Fox News.
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Cruz said, “Title 42 has been an integral and extremely successful measure to protect America’s borders and our people during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“If the Biden-Harris policy for open borders is intended to reverse the Trump administration’s success in securing our border, encourage illegal immigration and create an unprecedented crisis, it’s certainly working,” he added.
Fox News reported Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee co-sponsored the bill.
GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell of New Mexico will introduce a similar bill in the House, the outlet noted.
According to a June Axios report, the Biden administration wants to eliminate Title 42 by the end of July.
“Details of internal discussions relayed to Axios show top administration officials have suggested [President Joe] Biden seize the initiative by ending the order, which has been sharply criticized by immigration advocates and many of his fellow Democrats,” the report said.
In addition, the outlet noted, “A White House official told Axios it’s ‘a public health decision that will be made ultimately on those grounds,’ adding the administration would not get ahead of any CDC determinations.”
During a July 1 interview with host Sean Hannity on Fox News, Cruz also noted the failures of the Biden administration regarding the border.
“It’s complete lawlessness at our southern border because Joe Biden refuses to enforce the rule of law,” the senator said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.