Migrant Numbers Overwhelming Arizona Border Facilities amid New Wave as Street Releases Begin

An Arizona Border Patrol sector is facing overwhelming numbers, with new images showing the overcrowding in facilities, as agents have been green-lit to release migrants on the streets to cope with the pressure.

Photos in Ajo, Arizona, taken by retired ICE Field Office Director John Fabbricatore, show illegal migrants being detained in an outdoor holding facility in the Tucson sector.

The sector has seen 2,000 illegal crossings a day for three days, and agents have resorted to street releases in order to decompress the packed shelters. The population includes migrants from Africa, including many from Senegal.

It has quickly become one of the most intense areas of a crisis that is again escalating as numbers increase. Sources told Fox that agents apprehended more than 7,400 illegal migrants at the border on Tuesday, and numbers have stayed above the 7,000 mark for three days straight. When combined with encounters at ports of entry, that number hit 9,100.

Sources told Fox News on Thursday that early indications show migrant encounters for August on track to exceed 230,000, making it the sixth month this fiscal year over 200,000.

Numbers had dropped to around 140,000 in June but jumped up to around 180,000 in July.

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