On Thursday, the City of El Paso held a press conference regarding the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. According to deputy city manager Mario D’Agostino, the number of migrants being released in El Paso has reached over 1600 per day, and that number may grow with Title 42 scheduled to be lifted next week.
“Title 42 goes away on the 21st, we can imagine all the Venezuelans who were still over in Juarez and making their journey this way are going to pass through,” he said. “We might have to do some of the operations that we did back in September [and] October and that’s to help [the migrants] connect to the destination that they’re looking for.”
Despite this, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said that he would not be declaring a state of emergency, although the city has requested additional resources from the state regarding transportation, staffing, and law enforcement.
“We’ve said that you’re not going to fund yourself out of this, you’re not going to house yourself out of this. It’s something we’re going to have to work with the U.N. and other countries to work through a situation that, again, is bigger than El Paso and now it’s become bigger than the United States,” he said.
Leeser said that whether or not Title 42 is lifted next Wednesday, the city will be prepared.
