First came the warning that authorities were planning a “targeted operation” to sweep migrants off the streets of El Paso, Texas.
Then came the pamphlets, dropped around Sacred Heart Church at dawn, urging the undocumented to walk around the corner and turn themselves in to Immigration and Customs.
And then the police, wearing masks and sunglasses, escorted sanitation workers through the streets as they dumped discarded garbage bags, blankets and flattened cardboard boxes into slow-moving garbage trucks.
A few hours later, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents checked the papers.
As many as 2,000 recently arrived migrants have camped near the sanctuary of Sacred Heart Church.
On Tuesday, police moved to an area in El Paso, Texas, where migrants were congregating. They accompanied cleaning teams clearing the streets in anticipation of another wave
Illegal migrants line up at the El Paso Service Processing Center in downtown El Paso, Texas. An ICE operation has been launched to try and clean the city streets
“We come in the morning and evening,” a police officer said as he helped drive the garbage truck through a crowd of bystanders.
“What happens when Title 42 is lifted? I think we’ll find out on Friday.’
Hours later, a group of burly ICE agents roamed the streets. Anyone without papers was told to register or they would be detained later.
El Paso shelters are already full. Two vacant schools are being primed for an expected surge when Title 42 — a Trump-era pandemic restriction that meant most migrants were immediately returned without even seeking asylum — expires at midnight Thursday night.
And a new customs and border patrol processing center is being built just outside the city. Its 150,000 square foot warehouse-like building can hold about 1,000 people.
Federal officials say they are preparing for the number of migrants reaching the border to more than double, from about 6,000 a day to 13,000.
Hundreds of migrants have already made their way to the border wall in Ciudad Juarez, a stone’s throw from El Paso. There are reportedly tens of thousands more ready for Friday.
For the time being, those who have already made the crossing are camping around the Sacred Heart Church. They stretch blankets between railings and rubbish bins to provide shelter from the scorching sun.
Flattened cardboard boxes serve as beds.
No less than 2000 people have set up camp around the Sacred Heart Church. Sanitation teams carry out morning and evening cleanings to remove rubbish
Recent arrivals save their belongings before being tossed into a garbage truck
Authorities are gradually trying to clear the streets of El Paso in anticipation of another expected influx when Title 42 ends at midnight Thursday night
Those who came through the border wall without being checked by officers camp within the railings of the church itself, safe in the shrine from arrest.
Father Rafael Garcia said the church’s 130-bed shelter was full.
“We don’t have more room,” he said. “We only have the gym and that’s all.”
On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security launched a plan to clear space in the city’s streets.
It started with a very public announcement that it was launching a “targeted operation” in El Paso.
The press release was greeted with anger by the Border Patrol Union, who said it should not have been published. “This whole operation is a sad joke,” it read.
But soon after, officials were seen dropping pamphlets for migrants around the church, advising anyone who had evaded CBP officers as they entered the country to register.
Father Rafael Garcia of Sacred Heart Church said the 130-bed shelter was full. “We don’t have more room,” he said. “We only have the gym and that’s all.”
Thousands of migrants have gathered in and around the Mexican city of Juarez, across the border from the US city of El Paso in Texas
El Paso is already used to receiving thousands of migrants. Restrooms are set up outside Sacred Heart Church, which has a shelter for new arrivals
Pamphlets were distributed Tuesday morning urging people who had crossed the border illegally to turn themselves in for processing so they can access El Paso shelters.
“All those who must apply for shelter from the City and County of El Paso or religious organizations must have been handled by CBP agents,” they said in Spanish.
“If you haven’t, you must deliver it to the nearest border police station.”
It took a few hours for the impact to be visible, but by lunchtime there was a queue of about 70 people at the ICE station.
“We are waiting for a document,” said Dalia Pinango, 47, from Venezuela. “It will start our immigration process.”
She and her husband spent three months on the journey north, stopping for weeks in Panama and Mexico to earn money to complete their journey.
They arrived at the border wall around 02:00. They said they found an open gate and just strolled through. There was no one to surrender himself to.
Dalia Pinango, 47, and Ender Acosta, 27, recently arrived from Venezuela. They said they simply walked through an open gate to reach American soil. On Tuesday they lined up for the newspaper
Undocumented migrants were told to register with an immigration and customs office. The line was 70 deep on Tuesday afternoon
But without applying for asylum (they say they were fleeing Nicola Maduro’s brutal regime) they had to stay close to the Sacred Heart, where they knew they could not be detained and deported.
Their plan is to travel to Chicago as soon as they get their papers. But not everyone comes out with paperwork. It is also an ICE detention center.
“It cleaned up a lot of people,” said a bystander who watched police escort about 20 people at a time to the CBP station. “You wonder why they didn’t do this weeks ago.”
Fri. Garcia said no one’s final destination was El Paso. Instead, it was a bottleneck, a city trying to process and get thousands of people on their way before they could overwhelm local services.
“People are seeking asylum in the United States, not El Paso,” he said. “There has to be some kind of system so that it doesn’t all end up with the local community.”
Will the system survive if Title 42 is lifted?
“No one knows,” he said.