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Elon Musk’s Border Stunt Surprised Border Patrol Officials: Report

Musk toured the site with Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) and talked about immigration in a live video that reportedly garnered 22 million views.

According to emails from U.S. Border Patrol officials obtained by NBC News, the agency had little time to prepare for Elon Musk’s high-profile appearance near the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas, on Sept. 28. The owner of X, formerly Twitter, toured the site with Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) and talked about immigration in a live video that reportedly garnered 22 million views. On Sept. 27, a special operations supervisor emailed the Border Patrol’s Office of Public Affairs to notify them that Musk and Gonzales “may approach and engage USBP personnel,” but officers were not ready when the pair arrived, with Musk only posting on X once he had already reached the site. Musk was told that USBP couldn’t be on camera, but he recorded them anyway. During the livestream, he said that “hardworking and honest” migrants should be allowed into the country but not those who were “breaking the law.” He later suggested that the U.S.’s immigration policies are “leading to a collapse of social services.”