US border cities brace for thousands more migrants currently in Mexican camps and heading north, as 10,000 migrants already crossing into US a day
Sobering new video shows the human tide of migrants riding trains in northern Mexico, just hours from the US border – as thousands of migrants travel in a caravan through southern Mexico.
In addition, thousands of asylum seekers are already waiting in Northern Mexico to cross.
In Chihuahua, a Mexican state just south of Texas, about 800 migrants left the capital on Christmas Day en route to Juarez — the Mexican city directly across the international border from El Paso, Texas, according to the Border report.
Footage showed hundreds of people riding atop a northbound train, as cars honked and cheered as they passed the train cars.
Another 3,000 migrants are in a migrant camp a few hours south in the town of Jimenez.
Migrants line up at the US border wall on Wednesday after being detained by US immigration authorities, near El Paso, Texas
It could only be a matter of days before South and Central American asylum seekers arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border and attempt to enter West Texas.
Even without their arrival, there are about 900 border crossings per day in El Paso, according to the city's migrant dashboard.
In addition, the city's homeless shelters are being overrun with migrants from other border hotspots such as Eagle Pass, Texas, and Lukeville, Arizona.
These entry points, which receive thousands of migrants per day, send migrants to El Paso to help decompress overcrowding in those regions.
Once these migrants are screened and vetted by U.S. Border Patrol, those eligible for release will be released in El Paso.
Migrants, mostly from Central and South America, wait near El Paso, Texas, for their turn to turn themselves over to U.S. Border Patrol for a chance to seek asylum in the United States
It has pushed migrant resources to the brink, even though those migrants have not crossed the border in El Paso.
Days ago, city officials responded by opening an emergency shelter at a vacant high school.
Another 11,000 migrants could be spread across northern Mexico within days of reaching international border crossings.
An estimated 3,800 migrants are trapped in shelters in Tijuana, according to the city's migration affairs department, CNN reported.
Across the border from McAllen, Texas, another 3,273 migrants are waiting in Senda De Vida shelters in Reynosa, Mexico.
Another 4,000 migrants live in camps, shelters and abandoned homes in nearby Matamoros, Mexico, across from Brownsville.
A migrant caravan, 6,000 to 8,000 strong, is currently making its way through southern Mexico on its way to the US.
This comes as a sprawling migrant caravan of 6,000 to 8,000 migrants moves through southern Mexico and could reach the border within weeks.
However, border officials believe it is possible the huge crowd will split up before reaching the border.
“We know they're coming, but we just don't know how it's going to split,” a Border Patrol official told DailyMail.com on condition of anonymity.
'Chances are you won't see the entire caravan crossing in the same place. Some might head to Eagle Pass, while others might end up in El Paso. It just depends.'
About 10,000 migrants have crossed the border every day so far this month, according to federal officials.
If these projects hold up, 300,000 migrants could cross in the U.S. in December.