El Paso’s Democratic mayor has declared a state of emergency despite the Biden administration’s allegedly asking them not to. This is at a time when the expiration of Title 42 on December 21 is expected to lead to a large influx of migrants entering Texas border cities.
El Paso has recently been overwhelmed as they try to deal with the increased number of migrants who have entered the country through the U.S.-Mexico border. They have also noted that they are reaching their limits in how many requests by asylum seekers they can process and that the situation could swiftly turn into a humanitarian disaster depending on the conditions in the next few weeks.
On Sunday, December 11, according to reports around 1,500 migrants mainly from Nicaragua crossed the border and reached El Paso. There they would be processed by authorities in the area. This is the largest single crossing in recent years.
While many residents have supported the system and have even helped get migrants buses, and planes and provided coats and blankets the community still does not have the resources to deal with the influx of migrants. They also don’t have the resources to deal with an emergency if there was one. Many migrants are also currently sleeping outdoors as there aren’t enough shelters to house them. Currently, the temperatures in El Paso have been dropping below freezing and there is an arctic blast expected over Christmas.
