Why US officials have opened gates along Mexico border, paving way for illegal migrants

Opening of floodgates in Arizona along US' border with Mexico has propelled illegal migration into the country. According to a report by the New York Post, US officials opened the 114 floodgates along the border to allow free flow of water during the yearly monsoon season and also to help in the migration of an endangered species of antelope.

However, the move has backfired in a way that illegal migrants are using it to enter the United States. The report highlights that on an average 1400 migrants are illegally entering and a few of them are of Chinese origin. Amid the situation, the border agents are feeling helpless due to being outnumbered. The situation has turned Tucson post into the busiest point of illegal entry into the United States.

Meanwhile, smugglers are milking the situation and bringing more and more illegal migrants to the loopholes along the border.

“What you’re seeing is a lot of large groups who want to turn themselves in. Tucson has also traditionally been where smugglers concentrate Mexicans and Central Americans who don’t want to be detected. Now they’re seeing 100 people at a time who are not running away," said Adam Isacson, director for defense oversight at the advocacy group Washington Office on Latin America.

“It’s really becoming an epicenter. This is big,” he added.

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The report says that each of the 114 floodgates which have been opened, have 12-foot wide doors through which migrants can sneak in even on a motorbike.

Reportedly, the gates have been open for nearly two months after instructions from several federal agencies, including the National Park Service and the International Boundary and Water Commission.

Migrants took advantage of late start to the annual monsoon season, which caused the gates to be open while there were no rain.

“We tried to shut the gates but the order came down that we had to leave them open. You wouldn’t leave the front door of your house open in a bad neighborhood,” said one source as quoted by New York Post.

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