In El Paso, Texas, on the border with Mexico, where there is a spike of illegal crossings that are straining Border Patrol resources, roughly 1,000 migrants have been allowed to sleep on the streets.
The Border Patrol’s facilities and shelters in the west Texas town have been overrun in recent days due to a significant surge of migrants, mostly from Venezuela, which has resulted in a torrent of so-called “street releases.”
Republican US Representative Tony Gonzalez told the New York Post, “We’ve never seen anything like this.”
It’s a scenario you would see in a developing nation, not on the streets of El Paso, the person said.
According to KVIA-TV, this has caused scenes of misery, with hundreds of migrants sleeping on the streets without access to restrooms or showers. Additionally, locals claim that the “smell of human waste is overpowering in the neighbourhood.”
According to Gonzales, who represents a portion of El Paso, “having people wandering the streets” is neither safe nor secure; rather, it is nearly apocalyptic.
Gonzales said, “I’d say that we are really sympathetic people who want to give the shirt off our back, but when there is no end in sight, it’s simply not fair.”
Days after the Biden administration formally extended Venezuelans’ unique safeguards, known as Temporary Protected Status, which prevent some of them from being deported, the scenario in El Paso has arisen.
The news of the dire situation in El Paso comes a day after reports that desperate migrants in Eagle Pass, located 450 miles east along the border, murdered a guard dog and started eating animals.
According to the most current CBP data available, just under 200,000 illegal aliens were stopped when they crossed the southern border in July.
Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has started busing thousands of migrants to so-called sanctuary cities including New York, Washington, DC, and Chicago, where officials have complained about finding it difficult to handle them.
El Paso, the sixth-largest city in Texas, is one of several border regions dealing with a situation that is becoming exponentially worse.
Its population, which is mostly Hispanic (81%) and mainly dependent on the oil sector for local employment, is also home to a significant medical facility and university. There, a home typically costs $203,000.
According to US Customs and Border Protection, interactions with persons trying to cross the border illegally have increased in the El Paso sector from a previous high of 1,000 in May to an average of roughly 1,300 per day since the beginning of September.
According to NBC News, 932 migrants have been released since last Wednesday in what are referred to as “street releases” by the general public and “provisional releases” by the Border Patrol.
With many instances, migrants are discharged close to bus stops in the anticipation that they would be able to travel independently to other regions of the United States.
According to a Border Patrol official who talked to NBC, “generally, following processing, individuals who are not imprisoned for the length of their removal procedure are temporarily released in collaboration with NGOs [non-governmental organisations].”
The spokesperson said, “If NGOs are at capacity, U.S. Border Patrol works with local governments and localities to find sites where migrants may easily get transportation services or lodging.”
Prior to “street releases,” the Border Patrol claims that its agents conduct biometric screens on migrants, and those who may represent a danger to public safety are kept in custody.
It’s unclear exactly what led to the spike of Venezuelan migrants at the El Paso border crossing, but Venezuela has been experiencing severe economic crisis and food shortages under its socialist government for years.
The Temporary Protected Status designation for Venezuelans, which in many instances shields them from deportation, received formal notification on September 8 of an 18-month renewal from the Biden administration.
However, the safeguards are only meant to cover Venezuelan citizens who have been in the country since March 8, 2021, thus more recent immigrants would not be covered.
Due to the border crisis, the mayor of El Paso announced a state of emergency in May, and the emergency order was renewed on Monday.
Mario D’Agostino, the deputy city manager for El Paso, claims that his city has been in touch with the government directly to address such problems.
He said, “We have direct contact with the White House.” We’ve been discussing some of the issues we’ve seen in our neighborhood, and we need to keep supporting this effort.
The city, which is also a border city and is located across from Ciudad Juarez, recently saw an increase in the number of migrants sleeping in tents on the city’s downtown streets.
D’Agostino noted that the city wants to communicate with border patrol and customs in order to be better equipped to handle an additional surge of migrants.
On September 12, El Paso County Commissioners gave their approval for a financial source to establish the city’s own processing facility, which could be utilised to address any incoming problems.
Migrants would be transferred to the centre through this new facility rather than directly to the city’s streets after they were freed from customs and border patrol.
El Paso’s crisis comes as illegal border crossings continue to rise and are at record highs for the year so far.
According to Fox News, locals in Eagle Pass, Texas, which is 450 miles east of El Paso, said this week that migrants have been stealing from stores, murdering ranch animals to eat, and breaking in at night.
Vice President Kamala Harris was selected by President Joe Biden to address the “root causes” of immigration, yet as of now, border officers have apprehended over 2 million people at the border, setting a record that will expire in October.
In the fiscal year 2021, there were 1.7 million interactions, which was already a record.
In an appearance with Meet the Press on Sunday, Harris argued that the border remained safe despite the influx.
She deflected responsibility to the Trump administration, saying, “The border is secure, but we also have a dysfunctional immigration system, in particular, for the previous four years before we got in, and it has to be corrected.”
We have a secure border because it is a priority for every country, including ours, according to Harris.
She said that there should be a route for illegal immigrants to get citizenship, adding that there are still many issues that need to be resolved.
Nearly 200,000 contacts were reported in July, which represents a fall for the second consecutive month after four months of rises that reached a record-breaking 241,116 encounters in May.
The August data should be made public shortly.
With only one month remaining in the fiscal year, about 750 border crossers have perished while attempting the perilous trek north to the United States.