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Authored by Jana Pruet via The Epoch Times,

Billionaire Elon Musk said he will visit Eagle Pass, Texas, later this week as illegal immigrant crossings have skyrocketed in recent weeks.

Mr. Musk, who owns SpaceX, Tesla, and X, formerly known as Twitter, said he had spoken with Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales (R), who confirmed the southern border is “overwhelmed” by the growing number of immigrants coming into the United States.

Mr. Musk has been critical of mainstream media for failing to bring attention to the situation at the border.

On Monday, Mr. Gonzales, along with other House Republicans, visited the Texas-Mexico border to bring attention to thousands of daily crossings.

The congressman also visited the migrant processing center where more than 4,000 immigrants are being held.

Emergency Declaration

Mr. Gonzales's visit comes after Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. issued a seven-day emergency declaration for the small town of about 30,000 residents due to a “severe” surge in illegal immigration. It is not immediately clear whether the declaration will be extended.

The massive influx even forced border authorities to shut down bridges to the area in recent days, according to Mr. Salinas.

Also, on Sept. 25, a group of illegal immigrants attempted to claim a small Texas island in the Rio Grande as their own, according to Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez.

Illegal immigrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol at a processing center under a bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Sept. 25, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

In August, U.S. Border Patrol agents recorded 232,972 migrant encounters along the southwest border, up from 183,494 in July. The number of crossings for September is expected to be higher than the prior month.

The number of migrants crossing the border illegally since President Joe Biden took office has increased year over year.

During fiscal year (FY) 2022, there were nearly 2.38 million crossings, up from 1.74 million in 2o21. The fiscal year runs from October to September.

Under former President Trump, there were 458,088 illegal crossings during FY 2020, which runs from October through September.

FY 2023 is expected to set a new all-time high of illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S. over a 12-month period.

Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he will continue bussing migrants to Democrat-run sanctuary cities across the country to help small Texas border towns.

"Texas continues to bus migrants to sanctuary cities to relieve overwhelmed border towns," he wrote on X.

"Over 12,000 to DC Over 15,300 to NYC Over 9,200 to Chicago Over 3,000 to Philadelphia Over 1,800 to Denver Over 650 to LA," he added.