we continue to monitor the situation in lukeville, arizona. incenter of this migrant crisis. >> john: they're not coming in 1,000 or 4,000, which would be a crisis. we're seeing them in numbers of 12,000 which is well beyond a crisis. >> sandra: thanks for joining us. i'm sandra smith. >> john: i'm john roberts. we will see you again tomorrow. "the story" with martha starts right now. >> martha: i'm martha maccallum right now on "the story." america's mo

they got onto the local highway in lukeville. that goes in and out of lukeville and goes into mexico and rocky point. these illegal immigrants were walking in the middle of the highway. thankfully no cars or traffic. the port of entry is closed down out here. you can see what agents have to deal with day in and out. lastly we want to show you what is happening in san diego sector. border patrol releasing these images thermal video showing another wall incursion down there. 75 people scaled the border wall led by smugglers. you see them coming up and down one after another and see them all gathering and then they go running into the united states as a large mass. the san diego sector border patrol saying human smugglers are doing this every day down there. dangerous for the migrants and agents. this is happening all along the southern border. back out here live just a short time ago before we came to you guys border patrol had all of these men take trash bags and pick up trash in this area. we're actually in the national monument.

this now a live look at lukeville, 7:34 in the morning.his is where two days all bill melugin introduced the country and world to what's happening in that part and bill now joins us again. he is live in lukeville. how is it going now? what happened overnight? what are you expecting today, bill? >> bill, it has only gotten worse. a non-stop flow of mass illegal immigration out here in lukeville. border patrol process people out during the day. sun rise you see the results. over 900 people waiting in line right here. these guys you are looking at are from senegal and guinea and the demographics. adult men from all over the world. africa, liberia, india, syria, mor morocco. 250 people from guinea in the area. no longer just the northern triangle countries. these guys have little to no fear of consequences for crossing illegally and expecting to get released into the united states and a line of people as far as the eye can see that shows up here almost every morning. we want to show you the situation before sunrise here. look at this video a f

lukeville, arizona, quickly becoming a hot bed for smugglers. fox has learned more than 600 migrants arrived there overnight, some coming all the way from africa. >> sandra: in eagle pass, texas, dozens of migrants lining up along a fence line waiting for border patrol. that is where griff jenkins has been reporting from today. griff, what are you seeing there right now? >> griff: well, sandra, you know, i've covered quite extensively this border crisis and i have never seen what's happening at this very moment. let's go to our fox flight team and give you that shot here in eagle pass, and this area we have shown you large group after large group, sandra. but what's happening at this very moment here in eagle pass is this sector, this area is getting hit simultaneously in three different locations with a large group. the border patrol defines a large group as 100 plus. 100 or more migrants. this is the scenario of the port of entry, and a remnants of a group 500, the flight team, 350 to 400, upwards of 500. if you go west where i am, about 15 mi

what's the backup in lukeville? >> it's a very remote location. >> reporter: owens says the cartels have dropped off thousands of migrants in the rugged arizona desert, creating a logistical nightmare for agents. >> while we're doing that, we can't be out on patrol. the smugglers are using that opportunity to cross other things. >> reporter: like fentanyl, cash and criminals, he says. apprehensions of people on the terrorist watch list has surged, 159 in 2023. >> these are things that keep us up at night. there is nothing that crosses our borders elicitly that is not in control of the cartels. >> reporter: owen says the people detected on the border but not apprehended is the only thing carrier, 1.1 million since 2019. a few hours after talking to chief owens on this boat ramp, an apparent coyote used the same ramp to smuggle a man into laredo, texas. >> those folks are probably the ones that have criminal histories, that are coming in with bad intent. >> reporter: i asked the u.s. border patrol chief what he needs

one hot spot, lukeville, arizona. >> did you sleep outside?> reporter: where mida and her three children from ecuador waited in the cold overnight to be transferred for immigration processing. >> the border being exploited by criminal elements. >> owens says some border patrol facilities are 200 to 300% over capacity, without about 20,000 migrants in custody. the federal government has temporarily closed three ports of entry, eagle pass, texas, lukeville, arizona, and a pedestrian crossing in california, interrupting lawful trade and travel, while illegal crossings continue. >> it's frustrating for all of us. >> owens says several dozen employees at these crossings have been reassigned to process migrants. >> it's not their right response. >> arizona governor katie hobbs a democrat wrote a letter to president joe biden urging him to use the national guard to reopen the lukeville crossing. >> the tourism is being greatly impacted in especially iraqi point. >> it's a resort town on mexico's sea of cortez, where many americans own investment prop

we haven't seen any national guard in lukeville yet. have seen are more mass illegal crossings. look at this footage we shot yesterday afternoon right here in lukeville, more wall breaches, more mass incursions into the area. predominantly hundreds of single adults crossing illegally. a lot coming in from all over the world. some of the countries we encountered yesterday from africa, congo, guinea, senegal. columbia, ecuador. listen to the numbers. in the last three weeks alone in this sector there have been more than 54,000 illegal crossings. that does not include any of the known gotaways. as usual, everything happening down here is controlled by the mexican drug cartels on the other side of the border. look at this footage we shot on the other side of lukeville in mexico. you will see there is a mountain with radio towers. camera will zoom in on it and you will see a suspected mexican cartel scout with binoculars scanning the area looking for weak points in the border wall where they can cut it and move their human cargo through. als

here in lukeville, this is one of them. completely through by a human smuggler or by a cartel member. they have cut through the steel, cut through the concrete, this is a gap in the wall they use to bring people into the country illegally by the hundreds. contractors are ready to fix this thing but show you what happens as a result of the breaches. video before sunset yesterday on the other side of lukeville, a mass incursion after another part of the wall was breached. people on the right side of the screen spilling in illegally by the hundreds, after they get on to the dirt road, the mass of people who cross, large numbers of adult men from africa, family units from ecuador and mexico as well. and they come searching for border patrol to give themselves up, hoping for release and show you what happened once they got away from the border wall. the same grew got on to a local highway in lukeville, the main highway in and out, and also down to rocky point in mexico, walking in the middle of the road looking for border patrol

. >> john: on the screen, pictures out of lukeville, and eagle pass, lukeville, bill melugin has been covering the border now at least three years and we see a lot of single males coming in from africa who are simply looking for a better life. i assume they are probably going to file an asylum claim but told melugin that hey, america is the land of opportunity, we want to be a part of the american dream, and then san diego sector, migrants from china with suitcases. not the normal like the northern triangle countries, el salvador, guatemala, it's like the door is open and the world is pouring in. >> absolutely. first, bill melugin is doing great reporting in arizona, talking to the migrants, firsthand knowledge of why they are coming across, and the majority here are for economic reasons, not a legitimate asylum claim. that's not a credible asylum claim. there is an abuse on the asylum process and the fact you see so many single men from africa, middle east, china, making their way to the border, tells you one thing. it's very evident the federal government does not have consequences

most of them in or near lukeville.katie hobbs, a democrat, has announced she will now send in the national guard to help. adding that, quote: the federal government is refusing to do its job to secure our border. fox cameras once again witnessed another mass illegal crossing into lukeville through a breach in the wall. with hundreds from around the wall spilling in as the suspected cartel scout watched with binoculars from a mexican hilltop. at the indian reservation next to lukeville where there is no border wall and media is not allowed, border release photos showing recent mass crossings on tribal land. arizona republican congressman andy biggs visited lukeville today. he says the border crisis will impact the entire country. >> you are going to continue to see increasing crime. you are going to see increasing homelessness because our economy is not designed to absorb the millions of people who are coming into this country illegally. >> and as the white house and congress try to negotiate a deal on major changes in

this is the situation here in lukeville.. here in lukeville, masses of predominantly single adult men coming in from countries all over the world, large majority of them from africa and this area here, some of the countries, the folks we have been talking about, guinea, liberia, chad, syria earlier. you see on the other side of the screen, border patrol sources telling me yesterday alone eagle pass, del rio sector, more than 3,300 illegal crossing. so this is happening all over the southern border. and we want to draw your attention to some previous comments made by former dhs secretary jay johnson who served under president biden. here is what he said back in 2019. he said 1,000 a day would be bad. take a listen. >> i know that 1,000 overwhelms the system, i cannot begin to imagine what 4,000 a day looks like so we are truly in a crisis. >> he said 1,000 a day would overwhelm the system. 4,000 would be a crisis. well, we are at 12,000 in a single day, guys. this is video we shot right here in lukeville last night, you can g

as we've seen every single day out here in lukeville. started walking down the dirt road to look for border patrol to turn themselves into. ultimately you will see border patrol started processing them at the port of entry lear in lukeville. which has been closed down for weeks now because of the migrant influx. that is hurting international commerce, people on both sides of the border are having to drive hours out of the way because this port of entry is closed. but you can see they continue coming in from all over the world. mixture of single adults and family units. we'll take you to eagle pass. the live fox news drone in the skies above eagle pass right now have been inundated this week so far. they've had more than 10,000 ill le crossings in the eagle pass area in just the last few days alone and it is no longer just venezuelans and guatemalans coming across. border patrol has recently encountered folks from bangladesh, lebanon, guinea and albania. they come in from all over the world. lastly texas governor greg abbott is flying ill

bill melugin in the thick of it in lukeville, arizona.the numbers tick up, bill. >> they do. mass illegal crossings are surging all along our southern border right now. border patrol made more than 10,000 apprehensions of illegal immigrants yesterday alone. we'll show you the situation here in lukeville where we are. also have a split screen up showing eagle pass, texas, where we also have a cameraman. mass crossings, hundreds of adult men in lukeville coming in from around the world. a lot of men from africa, syria here as well. as you can see the demographics almost all single adult men. this sector had 2900 illegal crossings yesterday. you can also see the picture in eagle pass. that sector had 3,300 illegal crossings yesterday. lastly we want to show you these wild images once again here in lukeville, yesterday. a group of illegal immigrants pushing through a gap cut through by smugglers pouring through trying to take advantage of the gap in the wall. border patrol was watching it. human smuggler dressed in black on the other side of

but first, bill melugin at lukeville, arizona. how many have crossed the border there today, bill. >> bill: we have seen several hundred, in eagle pass, thousands. and start your viewers off today. let's take a live look at our fox news drone in the skies above eagle pass right now where they have been absolutely inundated this morning with a couple thousand illegal crossings at least. this is part of a group of several hundred you are looking at right now waiting for border patrol processing as the del rio sector, hammered in recent days. sometimes 3,000, and single adults and families, venezuela, honduras, nicaragua, and border patrol dealing with mass illegal crossings there. and then show you what we have been seeing here in lukeville where we are. take a look at this footage here in lukeville yesterday afternoon. we are seeing our own mass illegal crossings. another breach in the border wall and hundred spilled through, predominantly single adults, and coming from africa, including congo, guinea, senegal, others from colombia

lukeville the chief put out 18,900. so that's the situation. we'll keep covering it. >> bill: the flow goes on. griff, good to have you down there. meanwhile on the hilly -- stefanik in talking. >> morale -- this is a moral failure of higher education leadership at the highest levels. the only change they have made to their code of conduct where they failed to condemn calls for genocide of the jewish people, the only update to the code of conduct is to allow a pledge rift -- i wanted to highlight the national defense authorization act. a proud member of the house armed services committee. speaker and house republican conference and committee members have done tremendous work. wanted to highlight the parents bill of rights provision which i know the speaker fought very hard for and proud to have in the bill. a provision i authored and garnered bipartisan support in the house. democrats fought hard to keep it out. >> bill: a lot more throughout the day. she was talking about the reaction from harvard. she will keep her job, the president of harva

it is happening in lukeville and in eagle pass and in san diego.ed off the tot the port of entry in lukeville is completely closed down. that's because cbp is trying to help border patrol apprehend these folks. on top of that all border patrol checkpoints in the tucson sector have been closed down. those checkpoints are invaluable for trying to be a second line of defense in stopping both human smugglers and fentanyl smugglers. all hands on deck, guys. you can see the situation completely unsustainable about 2,000 to 3,000 crossing right here every single day. >> dana: bill, in that live shot we could hear a lot of yelling. do you know what they were saying? >> what they are doing is they get mad if anybody tries to cut the line here. new people will cross illegally and they don't think they have to wait in line. they will try to walk up to the front and then you will hear the guys hooting and hollering trying to get border patrol's attention to get to the back of the line. some of us are waiting a long time. the bottom line. all folks expect to be

rachel: don't believe anything that katie hobbs in arizona is saying that i went down to lukeville and calling biden to say there's a crisis and i need more money, all that means is give us more money so we can process them quicker because out of a political problem, she is a fraud. >> where have you been katie. rachel: during her campaign she said why are we talking about the border during the campaign. pete: did you see the video from a few weeks ago they were lined up and they went face-to-face where you from and where you going, crazy. >> all over the world all over the country. pete: the answer is new york, texas, chicago. rachel: california. will: 85% dudes between 18 to 25 and i saw some footage of the other day of a very young man who didn't look like he was the father carrying a little baby over his shoulder, the baby looked so drowsy it looked like it'd been drug, we have a sex, child trafficking problem at this border there are no dna test no fingerprints, we don't know that the people that are coming across the border with children are actually the parents this is insanity,

hundreds of migrants have been waiting for days to begin the asylum process in the lukeville area. they say they left dangerous situations in their home country's border protection workers have not said when they expect to be able to reopen the lukeville crossing to traffic. >> and in southern california, big relief tonight for those in the entertainment industry. hollywood actors have voted to ratify their deal with the studios officially ending their strike after nearly four months, more than 78% of the actors union voted to approve the agreement, which includes increased pay and benefits. the voting on this new deal started last month and came to a close late tonight. and you can hear about the west coast top stories every weekday right here on ktvu. west coast wrap with alex savage airs 7:00 monday through friday. or you can find a round the clock coverage at west coast wrap.com. >> well assembly member evan lowe officially launched his campaign to replace retiring congressman anna eshoo. the silicon valley democrat hopes to become the first lgbtq house member elected from the

tiny lukeville, arizona, where the number of migrants is pushing border patrol past capacity. more than 9,000 illegal crossings along the southern border just yesterday. nearly 3,000 of them in this area behind me, there is a group of about 40 migrants, including young children, that were just brought in by border patrol after they called 911 because they were stranded in the desert border agents so backed up, they're taking migrants to tucson, where they're processed and most are released into the u.s. the lukeville international crossing now closed for 11 days due to overwhelming demand on border agents from migrants business owners say they're paying a price. >> last week, we had made $5,000, which is what we would usually make within an eight-hour shift. >> reporter: we find places on along the wall where smugglers cut holes for migrants yesterday cutting true 16 times they mark the dates here where they fix the breaches and you can see this one just fixed recently u.s. and mexican officials tell nbc news one reason for the rise, mexico's border patrol equivalent is runnin

more wall breaches, more mass incursions in lukeville. hundreds of came through another breach in the border wall. they're coming in from all over the world. this tucson sector, very busy. republican congressman andy biggs was out here today. he says this crisis is going all over the country. take a listen. >> you're going to continue to see inkrising crime, you're going to see increasing homelessness because our economy is not designed to absorb the millions of people coming in to this country illegally that are being given paroles and ability to work. it's coming to your town. >> particular that, the white house has said that this border crisis is seasonal. the sort of thing that shifts with the weather every now and then. here we are in year three of this crisis. this just goes to show has nothing to do with the weather. we're in mid december. it's all about policy. back to you. >> martha: bill, thanks very much. let's bring in marsha blackburn of tennessee that is on the judiciary committee. can you update us on where this stands? the

the video our team shot in lukeville yesterday. stunning footage we've shot out here. a single massive group of well over 700 people who crossed illegally through a breach in the border wall yesterday. as usual, they are coming in from all over the world. we had a lot of adult men from africa, as you mentioned, >> gillian:ian, the agent ratio has gotten so bad upwards of one agent per 200 migrants. we have talked to people from ecuador. they are here to work and going to sanctuary cities. listen. >> ecuador. [speaking spanish] >> pennsylvania. new york, chicago. chicago. >> as you take a look at this video from eagle pass the numbers have been unprecedented this week. remember on monday we had the highest single day ever recorded of migrant encounters with more than 12,600. it has been absolutely non-stop. agents are completely overwhelmed and the border patrol union says more agents than ever are going to have to be working on this holiday, this christmas holiday leaving their families because of these mass illegal crossings. the border patrol union telling fox news i

and we'll step out and show you the scene here in lukeville.ce you'll see a mass of hundreds of migrants currently being processed behind the lukeville port of entry after they crossed illegally overnight. it's a little bit more out of the public view than what we're normally seeing out here in lukeville. and we'll show you you how these folks got here. take a look at this video in the early morning hours, a mass of about 700 illegal immigrants came through a breach in the border wall and started looking for border patrol to turn themselves in to, a mixture of family units and single adults that continue coming in from all over the world. they were being processed at the lukeville port of entry which has been closed down for weeks now which is resulting in people on both sides of the border having to drive hours out of the way to cross back and forth between the border. take a look at eagle pass right now where they have been inundated with illegal crossings the last several days. just in the last few days border patrol saying they've had more

. >> i'm here in lukeville, arizona.own right here where they have had to close the border crossing now because it has become an epicenter of a record migrant search. last week, there were 12,000 undocumented immigrants crossing the border in a single day. just yesterday, that number was 11,000. still near that record high. more than 3000 illegal border crossings happened right here in this very area. the impact has been closing that border crossing to traffic. so the business is here, in lukeville, they are thinking about having to close or lay off workers were cut off hours. people are saying they can't get back to see some of their family that might be living in mexico ahead of the holidays. migrants who are coming through and telling us stories of desperation because it is such a remote and desperate area to traverse. here is what we learned about why this area is a new epicenter. >> this is the new epicenter of the border crisis. tiny lukeville, arizona. where the number of migrants is pushing border patrol past cap

a story we followed a lot last week in lukeville, arizona. it is a very remote area.ot the photographs or video from last week's migrant crossing. this is today. this is right now live happening. so it has not ended at all. this line of single working males is right here for all of us to see. more on in in a little bit. so everybody knows we're on top of it and keep you posted. >> bill: it continues now. in the meantime you have six dead including two children after a deadly tornado strike in tennessee. the winds so strong it flipped cars on the highway. fox weather's robert ray is live in clarksville, tennessee, one of the hardest hit. how are they doing? >> yeah, bill. it's a tough time here this morning as it is in the 20s. the area is frosted over, sun is out. that's good at least. look at this, bill, just one example of a home that is destroyed. look at this, the entire roof and sides are completely taken off by the power of this ef3 tornado that hit saturday. 150 mile-per-hour maximum winds. look at the christmas tree there. that's what you are going to see, unf

cbp has closed down the nearby port of entry in lukeville.lp border patrol out with apprehensions. on top of that. border patrol highway checkpoints here in the tucson sector have been shut down as well. and those checkpoints are crucial second lines of defense to stop fentanyl smuggling as well as human smuggling. essentially border patrol has an all hands on deck approach down here where the crossings are. we will send it back to you. >> bret: the numbers are staggering. bill melugin along the border in arizona. thanks. vice president kamala harris has made history by breaking the record for the most tiebreaking votes in the senate. senate majority leader chuck schumer gave harris a golden gavel today following the vote. her 32nd such vote breaking the deadlock on the judicial nomination. harris has now eclipsed vice president john c. calhoun who served from 1825 to 1832. officials in northern virginia say the owner of a house that exploded as police tried to execute a search warrant last night is believed to have died in that blast. [explo

look at the video we shot yesterday afternoon here in lukeville.er mass incursion through a breach in the border wall. showing this a couple of weeks ago as well. hundreds of people pouring through the breaches in the border wall crossing illegally. a lot single adults, as i mentioned, coming in from all over the world. the group you are looking at here adult men from congo, guinea, senegal. others columbia and ecuador. listen to the numbers. in the tucson, arizona sector in the last three weeks alone border patrol says they have arrested more than 54,000 illegal immigrants not counting the gotaways. show you what's happening on the indian reservation out here. very rare to see this. media is not allowed to go in here. border patrol released these photos. the nearby indian reservation right next to lukeville. there is no border wall. there is just some anti-vehicle tracks laid out and they are getting pounded with illegal immigration every day. very rare to see. the border patrol union telling us they are getting upwards of 1,000 illegal crossings

bill melugin is live in lukeville, arizona with more. what else is cbp telling you about all this? >> bill: john, our cbp sources are telling us that as of this morning they had more than 25,000 migrants in federal custody and 20,000 is what is typically considered their breaking point. so, mass releases are imminent and will be coming soon and are underway right now. out to eagle pass, texas, a live look at the scene right now. eagle pass has been inundated in the last 24 hours with mass illegal crossings. you can see hundreds upon hundreds of migrants gathered waiting for border patrol to process them. border patrol totally overwhelmed. they have over 5,000 in custody as of this morning. they are still trying to transport another 4500 in their facilities in that sector, they are running 260% of what their capacity should be. mostly venezuelans crossing there. as a result of the chaos, you can see the orange bridge, that is the international railway bridge. that has been shut down in eagle pass. it's also been shut down in el paso. cbp making the decisions in order to redeploy per

adam yamaguchi, cbs news, lukeville, arizona. puffs plus lotion to save it from harm. puffs has 50% more lotion and brings soothing relief. don't get burned by winter nose. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. america's #1 lotion tissue. ma, ma, ma— ( clears throat ) for fast sore throat relief, try vicks vapocool drops. with two times more menthol per drop, and powerful vicks vapors to vaporize sore throat pain. vicks vapocool drops. vaporize sore throat pain. >>> as gps technology spreads lighthouses are fading into the background as essential landmarks for navigation. and many of them are in need of desperate restoration. cbs's mark strassmann shows us how preservationists are helping the beacons of the past shine again. >> always fun to greet history. >> reporter: frank sciame owns a coastline ghost. >> this i wanted to remain the way it was. >> reporter: the saybrook breakwater lighthouse in connecticut. built in 1886 and bought by sciame as a handyman special right in his connecticut back yard. >> it was a mess. >> so you

bill melugin is in lukeville, arizona. a major choke point in the southwest where hundreds, if not thousands cross into the u.s. in a matter of hours. but we begin with senior national correspondent rich edson at the white house tonight with what the administration is trying to do. good evening, rich. >> good evening, bret. well, the white house says president biden is dispatching secretary of state anthony blinken, dhs secretary alejandro mayorkas in the coming days to meet with new mexico's president to address that massive surge. the president has enough authority on his own to mitigate the surge. >> white house says president biden spoke today with mexican president andres manuel lopez obrador. officials say they agreed they needed more measures to curb migration flows so the country can we reopen key border crossings. as the white house and an in funding for ukraine, israel, and border security, democrats and republicans are blaming each other for the massive surge at the southern border. >> the president has done eve

this is the only road in or out of lukeville.tarted wandering in the middle-of-the-road aimlessly, not knowing where they were going and simply walking north further into the united states. eventually border patrol found them and corralled them and got them into a processing area. lastly, take a look at san diego sector border patrol releasing thermal images showing another wall breach their sanna sedro. about 75 illegal immigrant scaled the wall with the help of a human smuggler. they got into the united states and gathered up and ran further into the country. no word from border patrol and if all of them ended up being caught. back out here it is worth pointing out vice president kamala harris assigned as the borders are has not been down to the southern border since june 2021, two and a half years ago. back to you. >>> my next guest is independent journalist who has been down to our border for months. he says he has seen an influx of adult males coming in. also child traffickers using kids as their meal ticket to get into the

tiny lukeville, arizona, where the number of migrants is pushing border patrol past capacity.here is a group of about 40 migrants, including young children, that were just brought in by border patrol after they called 911 because they were stranded in the desert. border agents so backed up, they're taking migrants to tucson, where they're processed and most released into the u.s. the lukeville international crossing now closed for 11 days, due to overwhelming demand on border agents from migrants. business owners say they're paying a price. >> last week we made 5,000, which is what we usually would make within an eight hour shift. >> reporter: we find places along the border wall where smugglers cut holes for migrants, cutting through 16 times. they mark the dates here where they fixed the breaches and you can see this one was just fixed recently. u.s. and mexican officials tell nbc news one reason for the rise, mexico's border patrol equivalent is running low on funds and stopping fewer migrants. but republicans blame president biden's border policies and are demanding change

it says the recent decision to close the lukeville port of entry has led to an unmitigated humanitarian crisis in the area and has put arizona at safety and commerce at risk. so chief, i ask you now should governor hobbs be given broader authority to assist border patrol? and, is there a way to temporarily close the border for migrant processing and keeping it open for day workers? >> first of all i commend her for finally being down there on the border and addressing his head on. i will tell you that we spoke with her team. i spoke with her team during the transition. all of the issues they are facing today we explained to that. it is a shame it's taken this long but i commend her for writing those stern letters and demanding action. the national guard are very limited what they can do. it's a policy problem let's a flash back a few years and realized when governor richardson both democratic governors declared a state of emergency. is not a party issue it's an american issue. the governors are impacted by this at all across the country need to focus their energy on administration for c

bill melugin is live in lukeville with more. what are you seeing there?ing a lot of frustration from the migrants who feel that border patrol is taking too long to pick them up and get them out of this area. a live look at the scene, hundreds upon hundreds of adult men have crossed illegally waiting here in the arizona sun for border patrol to apprehend them and they hope be released into the united states somewhere. but lukeville where we are, literally the middle of nowhere, the closest major city over two hours away, so it is taking border patrol a while, a lot of men from africa coming in from all over the world, a chance to talk to two guys, and they are here for opportunity, one had this message for joe biden. >> i love you, joe biden, thank you for everything, joe biden. i want to be good person here in the united states. >> i came here because i want quality of life, you know, america is a land of opportunity. >> take a look at this remarkable video we shot in lukeville yesterday afternoon. one of the many breaches in the border patrol. border pat

we will show you the situation here in lukeville, arizona.e lukeville port of entry which has been closed down for weeks because of mass illegal crossings here. you can see hundreds of illegal immigrants gathered underneath here, waiting for border patrol processing as nothing is slowing down down here. take a look at this video we shot in lukeville this morning. despite rains and storms this morning, illegal crossings did not stop. hundreds of people from all around the world crossing illegally through a breach in the border wall, a lot of them coming in from africa. we also had a chance to talk with a few men from ecuador who crossed over, who tell us they are here for work and they plan to head to sanctuary cities. take a listen. >> [speaking spanish] >> [speaking spanish] >> pennsylvania. new york. chicago. >> and the border patrol union tells fox that more agents than ever will be working on this christmas holiday, telling fox in part, "while our agents are more than willing to sacrifice the holidays to protect fellow americans, that's n

. >> reporter: this is the new epicenter of the border crisis tiny lukeville, arizona. where the number of migrants is pushingborder patrol past capacity more than 9,000 illegal crossings along the southern border line me, there's a group of about 40 migrants, including young children that were just brought in by border patrol after they called 911 because they were stranded in the desert border patrol so backed up that they are taking them to tucson the lukeville international crossing now closed for 11 days due overwhelming demand on border agents from migrants. business owners say they are paying a price >> last week we had made 5,000, which is what we usually would make within an 8-our shift >> reporter: we find places along the border wall where smugglers cut through the wall u.s. and mexican officials tell nbc news one reason for the rise, mexico's border patrol equivalent is running low on fund the a funds and stopping fewer migrants but republicans blame president biden's policies and are demanding changes before they pass funding for ukraine >> what we need to

you can see the situation in lukeville. well over 800 people waiting in line after crossing illegally overnight waiting to be apprehended by border patrol. deja vu from yesterday. they are coming from all over the world. a lot of african men, mostly single adult men here. some setting campfires overnight in the cold camping out here waiting to get taken into custody by border patrol. sources telling me in the last 24 hours in the tucson, arizona sector there were almost 2,900 apprehensions and the border patrol facilities here are currently running 200% of their capacity. that's why there are so many people out here waiting to be taken into custody by border patrol. arizona has a democrat governor katie hobbs. she hasn't sent any arizona resources, no troopers or national guard unlike what we've seen in texas with governor greg abbott. governor hobbs is calling for more federal action when it comes to helping in arizona. take a listen. >> we need the federal government to act and provide more resources and we've been very c

. >> emily: bill melugin is live in lukeville, with the latest from the border.ill. >> bill: it's been a flat-out historic week at the border. since monday, 45,000 migrant encounters. this is lukeville, we have several hundred waiting for porsche patrol processing. the green tents are packed with people, a lot are men from around the world including african countries. these guys are coming from all over the planet and border patrol overwhelmed, few agents to process them. yesterday we talked to a group of men from ecuador, they said they are here to work and planning to go to sanctuary cities. take a listen. >> ecuador? [speaking non-english] >> pennsylvania? >> new york? >> chicago? >> chicago. >> chicago. >> bill: take a look at live images in eagle pass, texas, overrun with illegal crossings this week. the border patrol union says border agents are going to have to work this christmas holiday because of sheer numbers coming across. border patrol union telling us, while our agents are willing to sacrifice the holiday, that is not what they will be doing, they w

there are breaches and cuts all along the border wall here in lukeville.age we shot yesterday afternoon. border patrol and federal contractors were trying to weld a cut and there were groups of illegal immigrants spilling through that breach rushing through trying to get in before they could fix it. border patrol was there watching as it was happening. you will see in the video a guy dressed in all black on the other side of the wall. human smuggler looks at our camera, gives us a shrug and salutes us as he walks away. the people ended up getting into the country. you can see the situation now. this is completely unsustainable. lukeville, arizona, the middle of nowhere two hours away from any major city. takes border patrol a long time to process anybody. the situation won't change any time soon here. >> dana: we only have 30 seconds. how many of them will be deported when they go through the line? >> likely very few. a large majority will be processed and released into the country, an nta. notice to appear. they are not coming from halfway around the worl

de aduanas y proteccÓn fronteriza suspendÓ por tiempo indefinido, sus operaciones en el cruce de lukeville al creiente flujo de migrantes irregulares por esa pzona... ahora, quienes usan este puerto debeÁn viajar Ás de 100 millas hacia los puertos Ás cercanos en nogales y san luis. un ataque de un tibuÓn resulÓ mortal para una madre que nadaba con su hijo en una playa del estado de jalisco, en Éxico. testigos dijeron que la mujer logÓ poner a salvo a su hijo de cinco aÑos. pero el tibuÓn la ataÓ a ella y le seccioÓ una pierna. desde Éxico, iÁn maÍas nos dice Ómo ocurrÓ todo. una investigacÓn del new york times reporÓ inquietantes datos sobre los controladores Éreos de estados unidos... el arÍculo reveÓ que hay escasez de personal y que algunos controladores Éreos, se duermen o emborrachan en su ptrabajo... ahora muchos se preguntan, cÁn seguro es el sistema de controladores Éreos... luis megid tiene reacciones de expertos y de la agencia federal de aviacion. la fiscalia en miami acuÓ a manuel rocha, ex-embajador de estados unidos en bolivia, de haber sido agente del Égimen castrista de cub

we have been here in lukeville, we have not seen a single national guard soldier yet. back to you. >> john: it's john, let me come back to the conversation you had with the illegal immigrants who came from india. you were asking are you here to work, and they say yeah, yeah, yeah, and one fella says no, no, life danger. we know in order to qualify for asylum in the country you have to demonstrate what's called credible fear. did that sound like it was coached to you? >> bill: it did, and that happens a lot. these migrants are told by the cartels what to say when they get here on u.s. soil so they can be released in to you -- to the united states, and they say no, i want a job, i want to, would, that does not qualify for asylum. so the migrants are told what to say, they say my life is in danger or in fear of my home country, they feel it's a box to check to get asylum and hopefully be released and saw the court date -- not court date, an ice hearing eight years from now in 2031, ridiculous how backlogged the system is. >> sandra: when you put it in perspective, bill, a

one hot spot, lukeville, arizona. this woman and three children waited in the cold overnight to be transported for immigration processing. >> it's the border being exploited by the criminal elements, the transnational criminal organizations. >> reporter: border patrol facilities are 200 to 300% overcapacity with about 20,000 migrants in custody. the federal government has temporarily closed three ports of industry. eagle pass texas, lukeville, arizona, and a pedestrian crossing in california interrupting lawful trade and travel. >> it's frustrating for all of us. >> reporter: several dozens employees at the crossings have been reassigned to reprocess migrants. the arizona governor, a democrat, wrote a letter to president joe biden urging him to use the national guard to reopen the crossing. >> the tourism is being greatly impacted in rocky point. >> reporter: rocky point is on mexico's sea of cortez, where many americans own property. he owns seven vacation properties and says he has lost $35,000 in cancelled reservat

: daybreak at the lukeville border crossing in arizona. hundreds of migrants have reached the most important moment in their journey to the u.s. border patrol officials are starting to line the individuals up based on language and where they're from. the processing may begin momentarily. overnight, people built camp fires for warmth. some have gone days without food or water. this man traveled from west africa. >> did you sleep? >> how to sleep? yeah, nowhere to sleep. >> reporter: did you expect this when you came into the u.s.? >> no. >> reporter: daniela is a mother of four from mexico. >> translator: i'm very tired of walking so much with my children. with the baby in my arms and the little girl on my shoulders. >> reporter: this is one of the border's most remote stretches, now one of the busiest. in the last year alone, there's been a 140% spike in migrant apprehensions in this area. >> i've been working in this sector of the border for almost 20 years, and we've never seen anything like this. they're coming through the wall. >> repo

a live luke in lukeville. this is happening across the southern border. mixture of family units and single adults. talking to you some from guinea, liberia, bangladesh. the tucson, arizona sector getting pounded. they had more than 3,000 migrant encounters here yesterday. border patrol resources stretched remarkably thin here and the del rio sector dealing with this in eagle pass as well. it goes to show you december is traditionally a slow month at the southern border. it used to be until the biden administration took office. we are getting record setting numbers multiple times this month. it is only cranking up, not slowing down. >> bill: last week you said i wish i could give you different words to describe what i am seeing here but the same thing every day. now with the uptick you are december tribeing today takes it to a new level. is there an explanation they give you as to why now? do they see something in u.s. policy or politics that would give them and the cartels reason to push forward? >> so we asked that question to all of the migrants who com

: daybrek at the lukeville border crossing in arizona. migrants have reached the mos important moment in their journey to the s. border patrol officials are starting to line the vegetables up based on language processing. overnight people built campfires. some have gone days without food or water. this man traveled from west africa. did you sleep? >> how to sleep? nowhere to sleep. >> reporter: did you expect this when you came into the u.s.? >> no. >> reporter: daniela as a mother four from mexico. >> interpreter: i'm tired of walking so much with my children with the baby in my arms and the little girl on my shoulder. >> reporter: this is one of the border's most remote stretches, not one of busiest. in the last year alone there's been a 140% spike in migrant apprehensions in this area. >> i've been working in this sector of the boerner for almost 20 years. we've never seen anything like this. they are cutting through the wall. >> reporter: our cameras captured one of those breaches. hey, guys. smugglers had their faces. this is the bre

more of the same here in lukeville, arizona where we are.a look at this footage we shot in lukeville this morning. another wall breach, another mass illegal crossing. hundreds of single adults coming in from all over the world. we talked to some of them. they were from lie beeria, from guinea, from senegal from, togo. very few if any border agents around most of them stuck processing. the situation has gotten so bad down here multiple sources tell fox news that the federal bureau of prisons is now sending personnel down here to the border to help border patrol with transportation of migrants. of the bureau of prisons confirming that to fox news in a brief statement, which says in part, quote: the federal bureau of prisons is providing limited transportation resources to assist border patrol on the southwest border. beyond, this we have no additional information to provide. and, bret, back out here live, you mentioned it off the top we learned late this afternoon that a federal appeals court blocked the biden administration from removing that

fox captured these images in lukeville, arizona. illegal immigrants waiting to be processed after breaching the border wall. they have broken the laws and criminals already. cbp forced to close the lukeville port of entry to redeploy personnel to help with the untenable surge of people to the tucson sector. cbp sources telling fox news they encountered 19,000 people over the weekend. 10,000 into the united states between sunday and monday alone. the staggering numbers a far cry from what former president obama jay johnson described as crisis level. this is what he said would be a crisis in 2019. >> i know that 1,000 overwhelms the system. i can't begin to imagine what 4,000 a day looks like. we are truly in a crisis. >> harris: wow. 2023, how would 10,000 look? meanwhile, illegal immigrants in massachusetts are derailing the time honored tradition of the army/navy football game in foxboro. joni ernst puts the blame on the president's border policy. >> this is the week that america focuses on what we call america's game. it is the ar