Elon Musk revealed that he will be visiting the southern border of the United States amid an ongoing surge of illegal migrants.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Musk revealed he will be visiting Eagle Pass, Texas, later in the week after speaking with Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who confirmed the severity of the illegal immigration crisis in the area.
Musk’s comment came in response to a video showing hundreds of people sitting and standing on top of trains going from Mexico to Eagle Pass.
“I spoke with Rep. Tony Gonzales tonight – he confirmed that it is a serious issue,” Musk wrote. “They are being overwhelmed by unprecedented numbers – just hit an all-time high and still growing! Am going to visit Eagle Pass later this week to see what’s going on for myself.”
I spoke with Rep Tony Gonzales tonight – he confirmed that it is a serious issue.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 26, 2023
They are being overwhelmed by unprecedented numbers – just hit an all-time high and still growing!
Am going to visit Eagle Pass later this week to see what’s going on for myself.
Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas declared an emergency as the city saw an influx of migrants crossing the border.
“The City of Eagle Pass is committed to the safety and well being of our local citizens,” Salinas wrote in a statement. “The emergency declaration grants us the ability to request financial resources to provide the additional services caused by the influx of the document immigrants.”
Troops from the Texas National Guard and the Department of Public Safety arrived in Eagle Pass in order to help get the situation under control after Salinas declared an emergency.
So far in the 2023 fiscal year, Eagle Pass has reported 270,000 encounters with illegal migrants.
Musk has acknowledged the border crisis in several instances prior to him revealing he would be visiting the border.
Border Patrol has reported more than 1.8 million encounters with illegal migrants crossing the border within the past 12 months. During the month of August, Border Patrol reported seeing 181,059 migrant encounters, according to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website.
On Monday, Border Patrol officers reported roughly 11,000 migrant encounters at the southern border, according to Fox News.
In recent weeks, several Democratic politicians such as New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser have been speaking out against the influx of migrants coming to their cities.