Global Courant 2023-05-10 12:03:51
EL PASO, Texas – U.S. cities bordering Mexico are preparing for a wave of migrants as pandemic policies expire Thursday. US officials say they expect more than 10,000 migrants entering the US each day.
At Rescue Mission of El Paso, director of marketing Nicole Reulet says the number of migrants in the center is the highest she has ever seen in the city.
The shelter is a mile from the epicenter of the city’s migrant crisis, at Sacred Heart Church, where hundreds of migrants sleep on the sidewalk. In the shelter itself, they have expanded to another building to prepare for the wave of migrants. One of their buildings can accommodate 180 families and the other building can accommodate 75 single men and women. Their biggest obstacle has been staff, but the Red Cross has come to volunteer with the influx of people.
The El Paso Rescue Mission is partnering with the American Red Cross to open another building for single women and men. Migrants hang out on the beds during the day, planning how and where to move next in the US. (Mills Hayes/Fox News)
In the newly opened Red Cross shelter, Venezuelan migrant Ivana and Brazilian migrant Carlos are nicknamed Tarzan and Jane.
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“We met in the course of the jungle,” says Ivana with a laugh.
It took Carlos 8 months to get to El Paso from Brazil, where he said he escaped the Mafia.
“If I have to go back to my country, I’ll kill myself,” said Carlos.
The months of traveling to the US are relentless. Carlos says the hardest part of the journey is crossing Mexico, not the jungle. He says people steal from you, take you away and rape women. One of their phones was stolen while traveling through Mexico.
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In Venezuela, Ivana scrounged around as a school teacher.
“A professional college or public school teacher earns about $5 a month,” Ivana said. That’s compared to a $3 pack of arepas, she says.
Ivana’s mother and 8-year-old sister have reached Chicago and are staying in a shelter there. Once Carlos and Ivana have enough money, they will meet her family in Chicago. They have papers and an appointment with immigration at the end of the month, but they are trying to find work to pay for the trip to Chicago.
Blankets, sheets and garbage cans are used to make makeshift tents to hide from the El Paso sun. Migrants also sleep in these tents at night. (Mills Hayes/Fox News)
In downtown El Paso, migrants make makeshift tents to hide from the Texas heat. Hundreds line the walls of Sacred Heart Church waiting for work, an elevator, or other people. Many say they would move to another city as soon as they can come up with money for transportation.
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More migrants are expected when Title 42 is lifted on Thursday. The policy made it easier to deport migrants due to the threat of covid-19. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal operations will transition to enforcement of immigration laws under Title 8.
“We kind of know we can expect a big wave, but even then we don’t know what that’s going to look like,” said Rescue Mission of El Paso’s Reulet of expecting more people.
Dozens of migrants try to escape the Texas sun in downtown El Paso. Many sleep in Sacred Heart Church and on the streets while waiting for transportation to their next destination. (Mills Hayes/Fox News)
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said the city has declared a state of emergency in preparation. They are prepared to open two schools and the administrative center for asylum seekers if necessary. While Texas Governor Greg Abbott has criticized the Biden administration for not doing enough to stem the influx of migrants, Leeser thanks the federal government for helping the city with what they need.
US Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz says they captured more than 26,000 migrants from Friday to Monday, while more than 7,000 escaped.
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Governor Abbott sent 200 more National Guardsmen to El Paso on Monday to prevent illegal border crossings.
“America is not open to people trying to come here illegally,” Abbott said.
Beginning Tuesday, US Customs and Border Protection agents and agents will conduct a targeted enforcement operation in El Paso, but not near a location where people cannot get essential services. The Border Patrol union criticized the move, saying it tells people where to hide and avoid arrest.
Mills Hayes joined Fox News in 2022 as a multimedia reporter based in Minneapolis.
