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, a number of migrants were forced to sleep on mattresses and cardboard boxes in the centre of El Paso.
The overcrowding at the El Paso detention facility comes after a surge in border crossings in recent weeks. Just between December 10 and 12, 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.
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’
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
‘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 border over three days. Overcrowding at the centre 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
It is understood that 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.
This is a state of things to come for the overcrowding at border facilities as the surge in migrants is set to increase even further. After a judge ordered that Title 42 will end next Wednesday, December 21, the numbers will only increase.
Many migrants are already 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.
