Maverick County sheriff says he doesn't have enough officers to handle migrants and regular duties
Texas law enforcement overwhelmed by southern border crisis
Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber on migrants hopping on trains to the U.S. border and concerns about dangerous individuals being among the migrants
A Texas sheriff sounded the alarm Friday on "America's Newsroom" about the worsening border crisis, explaining that officials and law enforcement feel overwhelmed by the unprecedented number of migrant crossings.
"It's a real bad situation. I feel bad for the Border Patrol agents, especially the troopers, DPS. I can see in their faces that they're tired of this situation. It's bad," said Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber, stressing that he doesn't have enough officers to deal with the influx.
"I don't have enough deputies, and working at the border, they're tired of working all the time. … I don't have a lot of manpower."
Dec. 12, 2023: Migrants are processed in Eagle Pass, Texas. (Fox News)
"What we need is more help from the federal government. Maybe that would help a lot, but we haven't had anything from the federal government."
Schmerber warned that not all individuals are coming to America "for a better life."
"We've had some burglaries here, and we had a homicide … with the immigrants. So I know my constituents … they're afraid of what's going on."
Schmerber said he has also received requests for extra patrols in one of the suburbs but is having trouble providing security due to a lack of manpower and officers having to deal with illegal immigrants.
"It's very difficult. … It takes a lot of time away from doing our regular job, which is criminal activity in our county," he told Shannon Bream.
Thousands of migrants lined railroad tracks this week as a freight train passed about three hours south of Eagle Pass, Texas, in Piedras Negras, Mexico, waiting for a chance to jump aboard to the southern border, where they are expected to arrive in the coming days.
Border Patrol agents are already overwhelmed and dealing with unprecedented numbers of migrants, and according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources, migrant encounters topped 10,000 in a single day on Tuesday.
Last week, there were over 12,000 migrant encounters in a single day, breaking daily records and still at levels overwhelming agents on the ground.
Fox News' Greg Wehner and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.
Elizabeth Heckman is a digital production assistant with Fox News.
