In reaction to unauthorized entry, the US restricts traffic at one border crossing and closes the other to cars

In the most recent example of how the administration is finding it difficult to keep up with the rapidly evolving migrant routes, U.S. authorities said on Monday that vehicle traffic was restricted at a border crossing in Arizona and that a border crossing in Texas was closed to cars.

In Eagle Pass, Texas, a community of around 30,000 people, Customs and Border Protection said that it was closing one of the two bridges to cars. For a portion of last year, Eagle Pass was the busiest route for unauthorized crossings. In Lukeville, Arizona, a remote desert crossing that has grown in importance as a significant migration route in recent months, the government is likewise lowering the number of vehicle entries.

Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that "the U.S. is continuing to see increased levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest Border, fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals and encourage migration."

Lukeville is located in the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, which in October was by far the busiest of the nine sectors along the U.S.-Mexico border.

October saw a decrease in arrests for unauthorized crossing, but September was the second-highest month ever.