Texas border town fire department hemorrhaging $21,000 a day dealing with migrant-related calls --Eagle Pass emergency services go to Rio Grande daily to treat migrants, fire chief says | 30 Dec 2023 | An Eagle Pass Fire Department first responder arrives at either the Rio Grande or a Customs and Border Protection (CPB) holding facility nearly every hour to address a migrant-related emergency, costing an extra $21,000 a day, according to the Texas city's fire chief. "There's not a day where we don't go to the river's edge to transport patients, and the city swallows the cost," Fire Chief Manuel Mello told Fox News. The Eagle Pass Fire Department has been averaging about 45 EMS calls a day - about 30 of them migrant-related - since mid-September, Mello said. Before that, a busy day would be around 30 calls in total. The department spends roughly $700 on each call, meaning migrant-related responses alone costs "approximately $21,000 in total" each day, according to Mello.