A report about suspected cartel gunmen illegally crossing into the United States and eluding capture over the weekend sparked a fresh wave of condemnation against the Biden administration for its handling of the southern border.

Bill Melugin, a national correspondent for Fox News, broke the news on Tuesday in a post to X showing grainy, black-and-white images of men holding rifles running through a thicket.

“Per law enforcement source, a group of suspected cartel gunmen armed with rifles & body armor were seen on cameras crossing illegally into the Fronton, [Texas] area in the [Rio Grande Valley] Saturday night. Elite Border Patrol BORTAC agents were called out & searched [the] area, but found nobody,” Melugin said.

NEW: Per law enforcement source, a group of suspected cartel gunmen armed with rifles & body armor were seen on cameras crossing illegally into the Fronton, TX area in the RGV Saturday night. Elite Border Patrol BORTAC agents were called out & searched area, but found nobody. pic.twitter.com/9GuhQngPKj

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 8, 2023

The post quickly went viral, eliciting comments from Republican lawmakers and others who criticized the Biden administration for not doing more to secure the border.

“Joe Biden has empowered these vicious, deadly cartels giving them free rein over our border,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). “Our communities are forced to suffer the dangerous consequences of his refusal to follow the law.”

Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK) said the report underscored why the GOP-led House passed H.R. 2, which she called the “most comprehensive border security bill since 1996.” The congresswoman added, “Under this administration, American communities feel like border communities. It is past time for the Senate to act to secure our border.”

“Biden’s open border endangers the life of every single American. How many more cartel members are slipping through undetected? Let’s call it what it is: National. Security. Crisis,” said Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN).

Sen. Katie Boyd Britt (R-AL) said daily encounters at the border averaged nearly 7,300 during the first week of August. “This crisis is a clear national security risk, and every day the Biden Administration refuses to reverse course puts more hardworking American families and communities in grave danger,” she added.

The National Border Patrol Council, the union representing Border Patrol agents, specifically chastised President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “Here is what Biden, Harris, Mayorkas and their [mainstream media] don’t want you to see. It’s called ‘reality,'” the union posted to X.

The Daily Wire reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency that houses the U.S. Border Patrol, seeking comment on the report.

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Mayorkas defended the administration’s efforts to secure the border when he appeared before a House committee in May.

“Our approach to managing the borders securely and humanely — even within our fundamentally broken immigration system — is working,” Mayorkas testified. The secretary also insisted that “our efforts have weakened” cartels “by the investigations and prosecutions that we have conducted with our international partners.”

In a follow-up post to X, Melugin said, “Fronton, TX is a heavy cartel area with significant drug smuggling. Border Patrol sources tell me armed gunmen are frequently encountered there. This was another group of suspected cartel gunmen who were arrested there in June.”

Fronton, TX is a heavy cartel area with significant drug smuggling. Border Patrol sources tell me armed gunmen are frequently encountered there. This was another group of suspected cartel gunmen who were arrested there in June. https://t.co/SJ4koq6Fta

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 8, 2023

A 17-year-old boy who reportedly is the cousin of the Uvalde, Texas, teenage school shooter — who murdered 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary in May 2022 — was arrested in San Antonio after his mother reported he was planning to shoot up an elementary school.

Court documents state that the mother — who said her son was on probation and was intoxicated when he issued the threats — said her son was planning to “do the same thing” as the Uvalde school shooter and that she overheard him on the phone trying to buy an AR-15 illegally, Fox 29 reported.

Court documents also state the teenager had boasted to his sister of what he would do to the school. The sister told authorities that her brother was riding in the car with her and threatened to shoot her in the head and “shoot the school.” She said she believed her brother would carry out his threats. The family lives near an elementary school.

Edgewood Independent School District SD released this statement:

Edgewood ISD has been made aware a teenager is now in police custody accused of making a threat against a school on the city’s west side. Edgewood ISD is committed to the safety and security of all students, faculty, and staff. Each campus has an assigned Safety Officer. We encourage everyone to report any suspicious activity; if you see something, say something.

The cousin was booked into the Bexar County Jail on Monday afternoon.

The fallout from the Robb Elementary shooting included the Uvalde school board voting to fire police chief Pete Arredondo and the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District recommending that Arredondo be fired.

Details on the police response to the shooting found that roughly 400 law enforcement officers responded to the scene of the shooting, but the shooter remained in the classroom for 77 minutes before officers breached the door and killed him.

Footage of the school’s hallway showed officers standing outside the classroom for over an hour while the shooter was still in the classroom with the victims, some of whom were still alive and calling 911 for help.

Ryan Saavedra contributed to this article.