Migrant crossings from Mexico up nearly one third in December with 167,000 stopped so far as even DEMOCRAT congressman in Texas calls for tougher measures to 'secure the border now'

The Biden administration is now shutting down legal ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border as throngs of migrants look to pass into the nation, drawing condemnation from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. 

Over the weekend, Customs and Border Patrol suspended freight crossings in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, to shift staffing to deal with the surging number of migrants. Vehicular and pedestrian crossings at ports in San Ysidro, Calif., Lukeville, Ariz., and Eagle Pass, Texas have also been shut down in recent weeks. 

The closures come as illegal migrant apprehensions in December are already up 30 percent over November. Last month the U.S.-Mexico border saw 130,000 attempts to cross unlawfully in the first 17 days of the month and there have been 167,000 attempts so far in December, according to NewsNation.

But a top Democrat is warning that the shuddering of ports of entry in his state 'is seriously affecting legitimate trade' in the days leading up to Christmas. 

Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar slammed the Biden administration, saying 'our border communities desperately need more federal resources, and we need tougher measures at the border.'

'We must secure the border now,' Cuellar continued. 

Publicly available Department of Homeland Security (DHS) figures show border agents dealt with some 188,778 crossings in October - a 14 percent decrease from September. DHS declined to comment on the figures. 

Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz also tore into the port closures. 

'We frankly need to increase the flow of commercial traffic between the U.S. and Mexico, and I have been leading the fight in Congress to remove unnecessary barriers and build new international bridges,' he said in a statement. 

'Instead, this administration is prioritizing the processing of illegal aliens and won't even staff the bridges we already have.'

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, Tenn., also blamed Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas. 

'Because of Secretary Mayorkas’ failure to secure the border, CBP is halting legitimate trade and the flow of goods across the border right before Christmas. With more and more CBP officers assigned to help process illegal aliens into the interior, there is no way for CBP to keep up with commercial activity,' he said in a statement. 

The Senate, meanwhile, is involved in high-stakes negotiations that would see Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific aid packaged together with new border security provisions. 

One idea under consideration is to allow Homeland Security officials to stop migrants from applying for asylum at the southern border if the total number of crossings on a day exceeds 5,000. 

Border agents are overwhelmed after single day totals reportedly exceeded 10,000 illegal aliens entering the U.S. by the southern border every day of last week.

Earlier last week CBS reported the White House was open to instituting a Title 42-like border authority to expel migrants without asylum screenings and expanding immigration detention and deportation in exchange for the foreign aid.

Another is to detain people claiming asylum at the border, including families with children, and negotiators have eyed ways to quickly remove migrants who have been here less than two years and did not claim asylum. 

Major immigration reform has not been signed into law since 1986 with the Immigration Reform and Control Act.