absolutely not. they re trying to cover bullet wounds with band-aids. reporter: migrant advocates say the president s new immigration policy is still inhumane. that policy would expel to mexico up to 30,000 migrants a month who unlawfully enter the u.s. from nicaragua, haiti, cuba and venezuela. that s where suria rivero and her family are from. they shared with us images from their harrowing journey through the panamanian jungle, clinging to the top of a train in mexico to arrive here at an el paso shelter. what s your message for president biden? we want an opportunity to stay, she says. we are not delinquents. we are good people. two senior administration officials say the president did not meet with migrants here in el paso because they d already been processed at the facility he visited. lester? gabe gutierrez in el paso tonight. thank you. this evening the best news yet about
important juxtaposition here. you and soon some senators are going to be able to see for themselves what they re talking about right now in mexico city. talk us through what you re seeing and learning there ahead of that congressional delegation visit. reporter: good afternoon. those senators were in el paso, texas, yesterday. they will be here in yuma this afternoon and amid renewed calls for immigration reform and congress, which the president has been pushing but there are many people that are skeptical that will get done anytime soon. little indication it is moving in the short-term, but these senators they say are optimistic. they are here in yuma, a city that remains under a state of emergency. local officials saw a 2600% increase in un authorized border crossings last year. we ve been speaking with migrant advocates here and this morning, we were here along this border fence when we saw a group come
doing anything wrong. el paso city police a few minutes ago to tell us that their arrest were from a violation of criminal law, although they didn t get into details on why that was. migrant advocates have said the since this has been in such close proximity to a church, they don t like to see this. the memo according to a colleague, judy ainsley, back in 21. dhs secretary says migrants should not be arrested near places of warship, or near court houses. in this case it is happening. it is happening in the context of a presidential visit. president biden set to touch down in el paso in just a short time. alex, the biden administration says that the number of unauthorized border crossings has dropped significantly from mid december. it is not about 7% according to the biden administration. last week, of course president biden announced a series of changes to policy meant to
something to do with it. again, in my brief conversation with that migrant right there, he says he is from venezuela, he says he got here last night, he says he doesn t know why he was picked up. but again, we are outside of this church where there are easily dozens if not hundreds of migrants that are out here right now. and there are several arrests underway right now. gabe, was that a cbp officer or an el paso pd officer, do you know who is rounding these migrants up? those particular officers right there i believe them to be el paso city pd. they are not federal officials. last week, the video was obtained by nbc news, and migrant advocates have referred to those were customs and border protections federal officers. but right now, what s going on right now, you can see at least there is one, two, that are
numbers here. they have attracted a great amount of criticism from some migrant advocates, who say that they are to enforcement heavy. that is to say, they focus too much on the expulsion of migrants and not for easing the path in. the biden administration, however, will say there are avenues they have opened, legal avenues to help migrants come to the united states and steer them away from people smugglers. now, they have been accused of it being a well a bar of wealth that they would have to achieve because under these new plans they would have to have to have a sponsor in the united states, they would have to apply for asylum in their home countries or one of the country is on the way to the border and also these details are just being ironed out at the moment, but it is thought they may have to fly to the united states. but alejandro, who was travelling with the president, has said that if you go to people smugglers, on average they are paying around $6,000, so it is not a wealth b