Tunnel Vision: Border Patrol Aims to Plug Gap in El Paso

EL PASO, Texas—There is a gap to plug at the southern border, and it’s not in the wall.

The Border Patrol in El Paso, Texas, is combating illegal border crossings underground through the city’s extensive storm-drain system.

El Paso has more than 100 access points to its storm drain system, according to interim Border Patrol Chief for the El Paso Sector Walter Slosar.  

“We defend those accesses hard,” Slosar tells The Daily Signal.  

In January, agents in El Paso discovered a large tunnel system leading from Juarez, Mexico, and connecting into the El Paso storm drain system. The tunnel was roughly six feet tall and four feet wide and was even outfitted with lights and a ventilation system, according to Customs and Border Protection.

The tunnel has since been sealed, but sealing the city’s storm drains is not an option.  

Crews begin work to fill a tunnel used by transnational criminal organizations. The tunnel ran from Juarez, Mexico, under the border wall into El Paso, Texas, and connected to El Paso’s storm drain system. (Christian Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images)

El Paso is in a desert, and thunderstorms during the summer monsoon season can quickly lead to flash floods.  

“During the summer monsoon, it’s not uncommon for a year’s worth of water to fall within a matter of days,” according to El Paso Water. The water carries trash and other debris with it, and for that reason, grates cannot be placed on the storm drain entrances for fear trash buildup would block the flow of water.  

The drains are large to handle the monsoons. Some are even tall enough to stand in. Criminal organization take advantage of the drain system to cross the border illegally from Mexico and then exit through manhole covers in the streets.  

The Border Patrol Confined Space Entry Team, or CSET, regularly patrols and inspects the storm drains in El Paso. The storm drains are filled with “hidden risks,” according to Slosar, including “toxic fumes, animals, confined spaces & floodwaters that rise rapidly. Individuals that exploit these tunnels will face prosecution.” 

Slosar said Border Patrol is working to develop new technology to prevent illegal crossings through the storm drains.  

“A lot of that [technology] is going to be able to come in with the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ and the money that we’re about to receive, or we’ve received. We’re very appreciative of that,” he said.  

The Big, Beautiful Bill, which Trump signed into law in July, allocates $165 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, including $46.5 billion to complete border-wall construction, $3.2 billion for “new technology,” and $2.7 billion for “new cutting-edge border surveillance,” according to the Department of Homeland Security.  

“We’re going to deny access—subterranean, on the ground, and in the air,” Slosar vowed. “That’s where we’re moving. That’s the evolution of technology.”  

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