With the pandemic-era public health rule known as Title 42 set to expire on Wednesday, authorities are expecting a surge of new hopeful migrants at America’s southern border: as many as 5,000.
Due to this expected influx of immigrants from the south, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser has issued a state of emergency declaration as he seeks to access additional humanitarian services amid dropping temperatures.
Leeser and other El Paso officials also sent a request to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requesting specifically humanitarian aid to care for new migrants and not additional security.
The region is also said to be coordinating with NGOs and other cities, according to El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, who spoke with the Associated Press.
In response to the requests for aid, El Paso announced Wednesday that a $6 million commitment was received from FEMA, but Samaniego said that that outlay of funds is still millions of dollars short of what’s needed.
“The strategy is in place, we know how to do this, all we need is the resources,” Samaniego said. “We do not need someone to determine how it is being done or how it is going to be done. We are one of the safest cities in the country... We are not asking for direction. We are asking for resources.”
El Paso surged forward to become the busiest immigration corridor for migrants from Central and South America in October, and the rush could become even greater with the expiration of Title 42, a rule that kept over 2.5 million migrants from crossing into the U.S. since March 2020.
Related
