El Paso declares a state of disaster to keep shelters open as migrants continue to flood across the border into the city as President Biden blasts Donald Trump in State of the Union for stopping him tackling immigration reform

A border town flooded with 900 immigrants a day has extended a state of emergency to keep shelters open.

El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser extended the Texas city’s disaster declaration for the fourth time on Thursday, as the crisis showed no signs of ending.

Lesser’s declaration must be re-signed every week after the City Council failed to renew a longer-term ordinance due to a holdout council member.

The disaster was expanded on the same day that President Joe Biden blasted Republicans in Congress during his State of the Union address for blocking a bipartisan immigration bill.

Biden accused his likely election opponent Donald Trump of pressuring Republicans to reject legislation he claimed would have eased the border crisis.

Lesser said the declaration was necessary to maintain emergency plans that allowed public buildings to be used as shelters, and to help charities provide relief.

“The City of El Paso remains steadfast in its commitment to addressing the urgent humanitarian and public safety challenges posed by the influx of migrants,” he said.

‘We recognize the importance of joint efforts with NGOs and humanitarian organizations to provide assistance to those in need. That’s why I plan to sign the local Disaster Declaration.

“The upcoming disaster declaration is a critical step in mobilizing essential resources and ensuring a coordinated response to the challenges we face in our community.”

El Paso’s longer disaster declaration must be approved unanimously by the council, and Josh Acevedo single-handedly blocked it last month.

He said the statement was not clear enough about how long National Guardsmen and state troops would remain stationed in the city.

“There is no clarity as to the exact amount of state resources and law enforcement personnel invited to our community because of these statements,” he said.

Acevedo said he might change his mind if there was more transparency around certain details in the statement.

Biden used part of his State of the Union address to Congress to talk about the border crisis, mainly calling on Republicans to pass the immigration bill.

Senators from both parties reached an agreement that would have tightened border policies and provided funding to reduce wait times for asylum hearings to six months, among other measures.

However, Republicans in the House of Representatives put the bill aside under pressure from Trump, who wanted to use the issue to defeat his opponent in the election campaign.

“If my predecessor stands by instead of paying the bills and pressuring members of Congress to block the bill, then join me in telling Congress to pass it. We can do it together,” he said.

“I will not demonize immigrants by saying they are poisoned in the blood of our country. I will not separate families. I will not.’

Biden argued that the bill would have reduced the “incentive” for immigrants to pay human smugglers $8,000 to sneak them across the border.

Migrants are often released into the U.S. after surrendering to Border Patrol agents and go years without hearings about their asylum claims.

He argued that the bill would reduce that time to six months or even six weeks, deterring migrants who were not true refugees from trying their luck.

Hammering Biden on the border has been a successful political issue for Trump. Two weeks ago, the men made dueling trips to the southern border to investigate the situation there.

Biden went to Brownsville, Texas, where border crossings are closed. Trump went to Eagle Pass, where it was still a big deal.

“We can fight about fixing the border, or we can fix it. I’m ready to fix it,” he said. ‘Send me the border bill. Now.’

The number of border crossings peaked at about 10,000 in midwinter, particularly at Eagle Pass, before declining in recent weeks.

El Paso Border Patrol Agent Claudio Herrera said the numbers were expected to rise as the weather warmed, but were lower than the previous year.

“Overall, encounters here in the El Paso sector are down significantly. “We are talking about a decline of about 50 percent compared to the previous fiscal year, 2023,” he said.

Opportunity Center for the Homeless deputy director John Martin said the number of homeless shelters is increasing.

“I think there’s some concern right now among all the shelters. And we share the same concern. But we will continue to operate the way we have for the past 30 years,” he told ABC News.

“We’re starting to see some trends at the moment, but there’s nothing to worry about at this point.

‘The numbers appear to be increasing in terms of the number of encounters – those currently in custody – and the number of community releases being coordinated.’

The city of El Paso’s website explained that about 70 percent of asylum seekers came from Venezuela, fleeing political and economic unrest.

“(The city) places our priority on the individual migrant, providing food and water, connectivity, transportation assistance and temporary shelter as needed,” it said.

“The people crossing come from all over the world to escape economic devastation and extreme crime.”