El Paso sees sharp increase in migrants as officials brace for Title 42 end
EL PASO, Texas — As cities near the U.S.-Mexico border brace for the end of Title 42, the city of El Paso has seen an influx of migrants, with more than 3,300 reported Monday camped out near shelters.
An El Paso city official said Monday that there are now as many as 2,500 migrants camped out around a local church and another 800 near the city's homeless shelter.
With more expected to begin arriving when Title 42 restrictions expire later this week, the El Paso City Council on Monday unanimously approved extending a disaster declaration due to a "state of emergency" to assist in transporting and sheltering migrant asylum-seekers.
Emergency Management Coordinator Jorge Rodriguez said the biggest concern is the large number of migrants expected to enter the city, adding to the growing number already in El Paso.
Title 42, a Trump-era immigration policy, barred migrants from crossing U.S. borders to prevent COVID-19 from spreading in holding facilities. Since the policy's enactment during the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 3 million people have been turned away.
Title 42 is set to expire on May 11, the same day as when the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency is set to end.
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El Paso in state of emergency
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency last week ahead of Title 42's end and the disaster declaration was extended Monday after the city saw the number of migrants increase from hundreds to thousands. The emergency declaration allows the city to open up temporary shelters.
"We are getting prepared now for what we call the unknown," Leeser said at an April 30 news conference.
Rodriguez said he expects temporary migrant shelters at two vacant schools to open by the end of the week. He added that the opening largely depends on when the county's Welcome Center and local nongovernmental organization shelters reach capacity.
Additionally, Rodriguez reported that the city has requested $25 million in support from the federal government and has so far received half of that, which will be added to the $14 million the city has on hand to deal with the expected surge in arrivals.
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El Paso sees overcrowding of migrants amid surge of asylum-seekers
As many as 15,000 asylum-seekers are waiting in Juárez, Mexico, to enter the United States. In El Paso, there are more than 3,300 migrants already seeking refuge at Sacred Heart Church and the Opportunity Center for the Homeless, Rodriguez said.
The overcrowding at Sacred Heart Church prompted traffic closures over the weekend "as a public safety precaution," city officials said.
The Office of Emergency Management reported that daily apprehensions for May are around 600. The number of migrants who weren't apprehended is unknown. Statistics show that 7,588 migrants were released into El Paso in April, compared with 5,966 in March, but that total is still much lower than the 30,600 seen in December.
MORE: Pentagon to send 1,500 active-duty troops to US-Mexico border to help with surge of migrants
U.S. troops, National Guard members will be deployed for expected migrant surge
Last week, the Pentagon announced it would deploy 1,500 active-duty troops to the border to assist U.S. Customs and Border Patrol authorities on the ground and to perform administrative tasks.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also announced Monday that he will deploy a specially trained elite unit of the National Guard, which he called the Texas Tactical Border Force, to El Paso and other hot spots along the Rio Grande.
"They will be deployed to hot spots along the border to intercept, repel and to turn back" migrants who cross into Texas without legal authorization, Abbott said.
Contributing: Ella Lee, USA TODAY; John C. Moritz, Corpus Christi Caller-Times; José Ignacio Castañeda Perez, Arizona Republic
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Numbers of migrants grow in El Paso as Title 42 nears its end
