Migrants released onto streets in El Paso, Texas as Title 42 nears end

Daily border crossings could DOUBLE to 14,000 when Title 42 ends: Migrants sleep on the streets in El Paso with nowhere to go – with Biden administration bracing for calamity in seven days

  • Hundreds of migrants were released due to overcrowding at border shelters
  • Over 7,000 migrants crossed into El Paso, Texas between Sunday and Monday
  • The surge in migration could reach 14,000 across the U.S. when Title 42 ends

Hundreds of migrants descended onto the streets of El Paso, Texas over the weekend as the border detention facility exceeded capacity.

Some 498 migrants were told to leave the shelter after it became overcrowded on Sunday, with the migrants told to report back to the authorities to continue their immigration assessment.

Left with nowhere to go, hundreds of migrants were forced to sleep on mattresses and cardboard boxes in the center of El Paso.

The overcrowding at the El Paso detention facility comes after a surge in border crossings in recent weeks. Between Saturday 10 to Monday 12 December, an average of 2,460 asylum seekers made their way through the El Paso sector each day.

With Title 42 set to end next week – an order that allows for the expulsion of migrants at the border – the rising influx of migrants is set to continue.

Border officials are now preparing for a possible 14,000 migrant crossings each day when the order ends, Axios have reported.

Migrants who were forced out onto the streets due to overcrowding of shelters filled the covered areas of the city, pictured Sunday

Many asylum seekers were pictured hanging up waterproof sheeting and laying down cardboard boxes to sleep on the streets

Peter Jaquez, the acting Chief Patrol Agent for the El Paso Sector, posted an image of a packed border shelter on Twitter, saying that they had ‘experienced a major surge in illegal crossings, with a 3-day average of 2,460 daily encounters’

‘Over the weekend, the El Paso Sector experienced a major surge in illegal crossings, with a 3-day average of 2,460 daily encounters, primarily through the downtown area of El Paso,’ Peter Jaquez, the acting Chief Patrol Agent for the El Paso Sector, announced in a tweet.

He added that his force ‘will continue to keep the public informed as the situation evolves.’ 

The thousands of migrants who streamed into the city over the weekend overwhelmed the Border Patrol forces. A single caravan of approximately 1,000 asylum seekers was spotted crossing the Rio Grande into El Paso overnight on Sunday. It is possibly the largest-ever single-crossing group.

In total, over 7,000 migrants were seeking asylum at the El Paso border over three days. Overcrowding at the center forced the release of some asylum seekers.

A migrant tries to keep warm with a piece of cardboard as he rests in a parking lot near a bus station after being released from U.S. Border Patrol custody in El Paso, Texas on Sunday

Migrants, mostly from Nicaragua, rest in a parking lot near a bus station after being released from U.S. Border Patrol custody in El Paso, Texas on Sunday

Texas Governor Greg Abbott continues to send buses filled with illegal immigrants to Washington DC: Click here to read more

A total of 498 migrants were sent onto the streets of El Paso to fend for themselves.

Temperatures around El Paso over the weekend fell to an icy 34F (1C) as migrants were left to seek refuge on the streets.

Many asylum seekers were pictured hanging up waterproof sheeting and laying down cardboard boxes to sleep on the streets.

Across the entire border, a total of 16,000 migrants crossed in a 48-hour time period, Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz tweeted.

Overcrowding could become worse for border facilities as the surge in migrants increases even further. After a judge ordered that Title 42 will end next Wednesday, December 21, the numbers will only increase.

Border officials are now preparing for numbers to reach 14,000 migrant crossings each day. 

Many migrants are also waiting on the Mexican side of the border for Title 42 to end. The end of President Trump’s pandemic-era order, extended by President Biden, will give migrants a greater chance being accepted into the U.S.

Many of them have been staying at NGO shelters and on the streets of Ciudad Jaurez, Mexico – just across the river from El Paso – as they wait for Title 42 to end.

Migrant crossings at the southwest border have increased significantly across 2022 

Migrants queue near the border wall after crossing the Rio Bravo river to turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents, pictured December 13

Migrants walk across the Rio Grande in an effort to make a home for themselves in the U.S., pictured December 13

The COVID-era policy allowed enforcement officials on 2 million occasions to immediately expel asylum-seekers back to Mexico without processing them in the midst of the public health emergency. This sped up the process and also prevented Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from releasing migrants into the U.S. to await immigration proceedings.

While officials have been expecting a surge once Title 42 ends next week, it appears they were not prepared for the inundation that happened in recent days before the policy was nixed.

Total known illegal border crossings stand at a record-breaking 4.4 million since President Joe Biden’s inauguration with another 1.5 million estimated ‘got-aways’ believed to have slipped into the country undetected.

Joe Biden’s administration have insisted that the end of Title 42 will not see a change of immigration policy. But Republicans have pointed at the fact there will be no mechanism to safeguard this once the order ends.

Migration has long been a contentious issue between the Biden administration and the southern state governments – particularly Texas and Arizona which possess the longest borders with Mexico.

What is Title 42? 

Title 42 border restrictions are a public health order that enabled U.S. authorities to turn back most migrants, including people seeking asylum from persecution.

They were introduced during the pandemic and are currently set to expire on December 21. 

But the number of migrants now attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border is at its highest level in two decades – with even larger numbers expected to arrive once the pandemic-era order is lifted.  

U.S. authorities say they are readying for as many as 18,000 daily crossings when the order ends next week.

Title 42 authority has been applied unevenly across nationalities. 

Mexico has agreed to take back migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico – and limited numbers from Cuba and Nicaragua. High costs, strained diplomatic relations and other considerations have made it more difficult to remove migrants from other countries, who must be flown home.

Title 42 is one of two major surviving Trump-era policies to deter asylum at the border.

The little-used public health order that gives border authorities the ability to quickly expel nearly anyone encountered along the Southwest border. 

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post What do Twitter's gold, grey and blue ticks mean? New system explained
Next post Omid Scobies new book about late-stage British monarchy is called Endgame