El Paso mayor declares a state of emergency with border facilities ALREADY at capacity
El Paso mayor declares state of emergency with border facilities ALREADY in capacity ahead of Title 42 ending in 10 days: Migrants camp out in Mexico as the city of Texas braces for the influx of border crossings
- Hundreds of migrants have gathered around the church in downtown El Paso
- Title 42 authorization expires May 11
- Biden administration opens processing centers and vows ‘border is not open’
The mayor of El Paso, Texas declared a “state of emergency” on Monday amid overcrowding from an influx of migrants, amid concerns that arrivals will rise further with the end of Title 42 protections.
Those COVID-related restrictions will expire on May 11 after delays, leading to fears that the influx will increase in the intervening days.
The border cities of Laradeo and Brownsville have also declared a state of emergency.
In El Paso, hundreds of migrants gathered around a Catholic church downtown and an encampment has sprung up, with a homeless center already full, the El Paso times reported. El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency on Monday.
El Palso, Texas has declared a week-long state of emergency amid an influx of migrants. Here, migrants, mostly from Venezuela, camp in front of the Sacred Heart Church downtown, days before the end of Title 42
The Biden administration has drawn up a plan to speed up asylum applications under pressure.
The state of emergency came into effect on Monday and will last for a week. The one-month extension must be ratified by the city council. The city is trying to open temporary shelters.
Former President Donald Trump first introduced Title 42 restrictions due to health concerns early in the pandemic, allowing more deportations despite asylum claims.
The Biden administration kept them in place during a lawsuit.
Senator James Risch (R-Idaho) said lifting the authority would “open the floodgates” for more migration.
“Title 42 provides a tool and it’s going to go away,” Risch told the C’oeur d’Alene Post Falls Press.
“These people are now, because of social media and everything else, fully educated on what happens at the border and with border patrols,” he said. “With Title 42 coming down, they understand that this is opening the floodgates wide,” he said.
Migrants, mostly from Venezuela, camp in an alley in El Paso. The end of Title 42 restrictions could bring even more people across the border
The Biden administration said it will open new processing centers to deal with the crushing migrants
“I have heard in the media that the administration is supposedly working on a solution or answer to bring it down to just 1,000 a day or something like that. Thousands will come in,” he said.
US Customs and Border Protection recorded record detentions at the border in 2021 and again in 2022.
The Biden administration has announced a plan to open new migration centers that will conduct expedited screenings of asylum applications in Guatemala and Colombia to deal with the wave of asylum seekers. The administration also promises a crackdown on smuggling and efforts to speed up the processing of asylum applications.
“Let me be clear, our border is not open and will not be open after May 11,” Homeland Security Secretary Alajandro Mayorkas said Thursday announcing the plan.
“This is a hemispheric challenge that requires hemispheric solutions,” he said.