Democrat El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser issued a disaster declaration earlier this month due to the “mass migration” through El Paso. The declaration passed and went into effect on Dec. 23. It lasts at least 30 days or until the council terminates it.
In December, approximately 6,000 migrants have arrived weekly. The El Paso sector of Border Patrol had 53,284 land border encounters in October alone. Due to the possibility of Title 42 being repealed, Leeser expected the crisis to go from bad to worse.
The declaration said repealing Title 42 would allow for “significantly increased inflow of migrants” and noted thousands of migrants from Latin America have gathered at or near the border awaiting processing once Title 42 ends.
The city lacks an extensive transportation infrastructure to facilitate the movement of migrants out of the region and resources to address a new surge in migration.
“There are significant public safety and security concerns related to the wave of migration,” the declaration states. “Including but not limited to the risk to injury or loss of life with migrants in El Paso streets with little or no resources on days that reach extremely high or freezing low temperatures and the inherent risks that come with increased demand on local shelters.
“The city is faced with the imminent threat of widespread injury or loss of life resulting from a surge in transient migrants traveling to the region during an ongoing global pandemic and there is potential for loss of property for both residents and migrants due to those who would take advantage of this wave of migrants.”
The El Paso Airport has become “saturated” with migrants, it states.
