El Paso prepared for new surge of migrants as Title 42 ends: recap

El Paso is braced for what city leaders have described as the "unknown" as Title 42 pandemic restrictions expired Thursday night along with the official end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Title 42 and the health emergency lapsed at 9:59 p.m. in El Paso, or 11:59 p.m. ET.

Large numbers of migrants seeking asylum have been arriving in El Paso after massing along the border, hoping to enter the United States. Title 42 had allowed border agents to quickly expel migrants to Mexico.

The end of Title 42 restrictions doesn't mean migrants are allowed to enter. The U.S. Border Patrol cautions that people illegally entering the country can be subject to prosecution under a federal law known as Title 8, which includes yearslong bans from reentry.

U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales details 'dire' situation at processing center

After visiting El Paso’s central processing center, U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, reported that as many as 3,000 migrants, mostly single adult males, were being housed there.

The migrants, he said, are being housed in a facility made to hold 1,000, with 400 to 500 sharing holding cells made for 90.

“The system is backing up,” Gonzales said.

He said the current situation is “dire,” perhaps the worst he’s ever seen.

For his part, Gonzales said he was busy advocating for local residents and taxpayers, as well as the local economy, whom he said are being caught up in the ongoing crisis and largely forgotten.

“What about us?,” he wondered.

“Things have gotten worse,” Gonzales added, noting that thousands have been waiting up to 18 days to be processed. “Something is broken and needs to be fixed.”

Gonzales also decried the death of a Honduran child after five days in the custody of the u.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“We want to get back to normal,” he said.

Beyond those waiting at the processing center, Gonzales said another 6,000 are in custody in the El Paso sector and thousands more are being held in other “soft-sided” facilities.

“The numbers haven’t gone away,” he said, “it’s just how they come over.”

“This crisis goes away in one way,” he continued. “It goes away when we enforce the laws already on the books.”

-Adam Powell

El Paso Chamber renews calls for 'commonsense immigration reform'

As El Paso contends with the end of Title 42 restrictions, the El Paso Chamber released a statement calling for "swift and just immigration reform."

"The El Paso Chamber has always been a proponent of commonsense immigration reform," the statement read. "We have not seen a meaningful change in our immigration system in decades. Since then, there have been other policy changes that have turned out to be an impediment to immigrants, often restricting access to legalization, and ultimately making it more difficult for immigrants to enter legally.

"We must push for immigration policies that will create a straightforward pathway to citizenship, helping drive new progress and business ventures in the city," the chamber's statement continued. "We support federal immigration reform that revises the current employment-based visa policies and increases the number of diversity visas, and we hope to increase the economic participation of the immigrant community by supporting entrepreneurship and creating sustainable jobs."

The chamber also sought to address the misconception that "more immigrants will be a drain on the American economy," a sentiment it said "could not be farther from the truth."

"Research has shown time and time again that immigrants in search of the American Dream are highly entrepreneurial and are ultimately beneficial to our economy," the chamber said. "They fill workforce needs, purchase goods, and pay taxes. More and more Americans are retiring, leaving a greater need for incoming workers. Worker shortages have also been cited as major contributors to the rising inflation in the United States."

Democratic senators are working to provide opportunities for states to sponsor noncitizens as a way to bolster their workforces, the chamber said, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently announced the formation of its Legal Immigration Border Enforcement Reform This Year (LIBERTY) Campaign, which calls for "swift action in enacting measures to improve the situation at the border as well as the legal immigration system."

"The El Paso Chamber wholeheartedly believes that it is time for this issue to be addressed in a manner that can benefit us all by providing both relief and opportunity," the statement read. "The Chamber will continue to support any and all efforts in achieving new legal pathways that can address the issues we face today."

‒ Adam Powell

City has 150 migrant families in shelters, hotels

El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said during a briefing Friday that only about 150 people, all families, are currently in city shelters and an area hotel, while single men and women are being sheltered elsewhere.

“Title 42 has come and gone,” Leeser said. “We actually have had a very smooth transition as Title 42 has lapsed and we move to Title 8.”

He added, “We’ll continue to ensure everyone is treated with respect. …”

More: From middle school to migrant shelter, El Paso opens shelter doors as Title 42 nears end

While numbers remain low, bucking the expectation that thousands would rush the border as the Trump-era public health policy expired, Leeser said a federal district court ruling that found asylum-seekers cannot be released without a court date is slowing the process.

“The numbers are truly low at this time,” Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino said during the briefing.

Both Leeser and D’Agostino noted that the city is trying to be “judicious” with the funding it has on hand, saying that the city currently has enough funding to keep up with the current numbers, but only “time will tell” how far that money will go.

“We know that the immigration system is broken, we know it needs to be fixed, and we know there’s not a short-term answer right now,” Leeser said.

Two days ago, the mayor traveled to Juárez, where he said Mexican officials told him between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants are waiting to enter the country. “We know that there are more coming,” he said. “We know this is just the beginning.”

‒ Adam Powell

State Sen. César Blánco calls on Congress to act on immigration

In a statement issued Friday morning, state Sen. César Blánco, D-El Paso, called on Congress to take substantive action to address immigration as Title 42 restrictions, the Trump-era public health mandates aimed at quickly expelling asylum-seekers, ended.

“Unfortunately, the Biden administration inherited a badly broken immigration system, and Title 42, implemented under the Trump administration, was nothing more than a band-aid during COVID to address the unprecedented global migration challenge brought about by the pandemic, poverty and war," Blanco said in the statement. “Now more than ever, we need Congress to act to provide a modern and permanent solution to our broken immigration system that reflects our American values and strengthens our economy.

Title 42, Blanco said, "was never an immigration solution."

For his part, the state senator insisted that Americans "by overwhelming margins support balanced solutions that provide strong border security measures and humane, civil and decent approaches to opening up more pathways to citizenship and legalization for asylum-seekers, refugees, Dreamers, migrants fleeing from war, danger and natural disasters, and the 11 million people here without papers who pay taxes, own businesses and are the backbone of so many of our country’s industries."

‒ Adam Powell

US Rep. Veronica Escobar: House-approved border bill includes 'terrible provisions'

During a news briefing Friday morning, U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, blasted a Republican bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would essentially cut off funding to many of the organizations on the frontlines of the raging migrant crisis.

The bill, known as the Secure the Border Act, includes a "number of really terrible provisions," Escobar said, which would result in the jailing of migrant children "indefinitely" and end funding for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), faith-based operations and more.

"This puts at great risk the collaboration that our community has created with Customs and Border Protection," Escobar said, noting that FEMA funding has been essential in funding operations in El Paso and other border communities. "This is a direct attack on that funding."

Escobar said she and a Republican colleague, who remained unnamed, are preparing to introduce a bill that is a "true compromise" aimed at resolving the crisis at the border.

"It is not everything that Republicans want, it is not everything that Democrats want," she said, "(but) it's a legitimate solution to what's happening."

As far as the situation on the ground in El Paso is concerned, Escobar said that she has been informed that the number of migrants on the streets and in shelters, as well as those waiting in Juárez, continues to drop.

"It sounds like a lot of the population that was in Ciudad Juárez and in the shelters has really diminished," Escobar said, noting that the thousands waiting at Gate 42 in Juárez is now down to about 300. "The process is working."

‒ Adam Powell

The ‘unknown’ arrives, Title 42 ends at El Paso border

The “unknown” that El Paso and other border communities face is now here as the Title 42 border pandemic-restrictions expired Thursday night.

Undocumented migrants fleeing extreme poverty, oppression and violence are coming to the United States on hopes — no matter how flimsy — for a chance to change their families’ lives for the better.

About three weeks ago the surge began in El Paso as hundreds of asylum-seekers, many from Venezuela, began crossing the border after spending frustrating months over the Rio Grande in Juárez, Mexico, waiting for an appointment at a port of entry to enter the United States.

Human smuggling of Mexicans and others ineligible for asylum also swelled as U.S. Border Patrol agents became overwhelmed with the sheer number of migrants.

The city of El Paso declared a “state of emergency.”

Now, law enforcement and military forces are in place. Shelters and transportation networks are set. And everyone waits to see if the worst already passed, or if it is yet to come.

El Paso civic and religious leaders have called for compassion for the new arrivals in this predominately Mexican American community with an admirable, welcoming legacy.

El Paso has seen different waves of migrants arrive since 2018, though the Borderland has always been a place of new arrivals.

Unregulated migration slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic before picking up again. Prior to the current uptick, there was a surge during the holiday season in November and December.

The Biden administration said that the coming days could be “chaotic” on the border but that it had rallied federal resources, toughened legal consequences and hardened other measures to dissuade illegal immigration, much fueled by false hopes and lies spread on social media claiming there won’t be deportations once Title 42 restrictions expire.

There will still be deportations and consequences for unlawful entries and new controversial limits on asylum, the Biden administration said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans continue to blast Biden saying that the president hadn’t done nearly enough to prevent a border influx simmering for years.

“Thanks to the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety," Abbott tweeted on Thursday. "They are the only officials in America holding the line against an onrush of illegal immigrants."

Abbott and other politicians are demonizing a humanitarian crisis, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the nation’s oldest Hispanic civil rights group, said Thursday at a news conference in El Paso.

“It’s making political piñatas out of immigrants. It’s scapegoating, fearmongering, and the worse type of politics that people can do,” Domingo Garcia, LULAC’s national president, said.

– Daniel Borunda

Last exceptions, good fortune as Title 42 restrictions end

At an Annunciation House migrant shelter Downtown, Haitian couple Carl-Henry Joffre and Blandine Nicolas could hardly believe their good fortune. They were among the roughly 90 people who were granted an exception to Title 42 expulsion on the policy’s final day.

They presented at the Paso Del Norte Bridge at 8 a.m. and by 4 p.m. they were free, set up with shelter in El Paso: a bed to sleep in and a chance to figure out how best to travel to their destination in Indiana.

"I suffered so much to get here," said Joffre, 28, in a mix of Spanish and Portuguese that he learned after nine years in Brazil and the seven-month journey to the U.S.-Mexico border.

"We don’t know what to do next, but we have time to think now,” Nicolas, 29, said.

- Lauren Villagran

Quiet night in El Paso area as Title 42 expiration nears

The final night of Title 42 pandemic restrictions appeared to be generally quiet in El Paso.

There appeared to be no groups of migrants waiting at Downtown bus stations.

Early in the night, the Paso Del Norte Bridge was operating as normal. In the past, the bridge had been blocked during border confrontations between groups of migrants and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.

The old Bassett Middle School in Central El Paso is ready as a migrant shelter but as of 9 p.m. had received no migrants, a city spokeswoman said.

In New Mexico, the Santa Teresa border port of entry was also quiet. Officials said that they did not expect the border crossing to become busy as Title 42 expires.

- Juan Corral, Justin Garcia

As sun sets on Title 42 expiration date, hundreds of migrants wait along El Paso border

Hundreds of migrants hoping for a shot at asylum in the United States remained lined up next to rows of concertina wire along the El Paso border fence as the sun set Thursday on the final day of Title 42.

Migrants waited to be picked up by the U.S. Border Patrol near gate 42 of the border fence in the Lower Valley.

The migrants were surrounded by rows of concertina wire set up by the Texas National Guard troops that appeared to have one opening, directed south toward Mexico.

There were no more than 500 migrants at the site, according to an estimate by Chihuahua state police, who were monitoring the situation on the Juárez-side of the Rio Grande in case of any disturbances.

Once Title 42 expires, migrants could face tougher consequences for unlawful entry, U.S. authorities said.

- Omar Ornelas

Mayorkas at the White House: 'We are clear-eyed about the challenges'

At a White House news briefing on Thursday, Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas promised that the end of Title 42 would not lead to wide open borders.

"Starting at midnight, people who arrive at our southern border will be subject to our immigration enforcement authorities under Title 8 of the United States Code," Mayorkas said.

"If anyone arrives at our southern border after midnight tonight, they will be presumed ineligible for asylum and subject to steeper consequences for unlawful entry, including a minimum five-year ban on reentry and potential criminal prosecution.

More: How will El Paso handle the end of Title 42? Border Patrol chief shares his plans

"The transition to Title 8 processing will be swift and immediate. We have surged 24,000 Border Patrol agents and officers; thousands of troops, contractors; and over a thousand asylum officers and judges to see this through.

"We are clear-eyed about the challenges we are likely to face in the days and weeks ahead, and we are ready to meet them."

– John C. Moritz

Abbott continues criticism of Biden as Title 42 nears final hours

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott spent some of the hours leading up to the end of Title 42 touting his own efforts to battle unlawful immigration at the border and contrasting them with those of the Biden administration.

"Joe Biden's open border policies have enticed record-breaking levels of illegal immigration," the three-term Republican tweeted before noon. "Texans — and Americans — have had enough of his lies about the border crisis.

"Stop the chaos. Biden MUST do his constitutional duty and secure the border."

Around 4 p.m. Central Time, Abbott tweeted video of soldiers from the Texas National Guard laying razor wire between them and migrants on the Texas side of the border, but their exact location was not provided.

In the background were trees and green vegetation as found in South Texas, not the desert of the El Paso region.

– John C. Moritz

LULAC calls for more migrant crisis funding, end to anti-migrant rhetoric

The League of United Latin American Citizens is calling on the Biden administration to provide emergency funding to local governments and nonprofits so they can provide critical aid to migrants seeking asylum in the United States.

LULAC leaders and El Paso city Rep. Isabel Salcido gathered at Sacred Heart Church in Downtown El Paso on Thursday to call for additional resources for the humanitarian crisis on the border.

Domingo Garcia, LULAC’s national president, said his organization continues to lobby for comprehensive immigration laws.

“I’m here because it is important that we help address the issue of immigration in this country,” he said. “I want to start off by saying (Texas) Gov. (Greg) Abbott and (Florida) Gov. (Ron) DeSantis when you say there is an invasion, that’s a lie.

“When you say there are open borders, that’s a lie. The fact of the matter is that a vast majority of immigrants who try to cross illegally are returned to their country of origin.”

LULAC leaders called today the “D-Day” to the end of Title 42, a policy that makes it easy for Border Patrol to expel migrants even if they are trying to legally seek asylum.

The humanitarian crisis stretches from Brownsville, Texas to El Paso to San Diego, California, Garcia said. Border communities need the funding to provide shelter, food and transportation so migrants can get a court date to determine if they are eligible for asylum.

“What we don’t need Gov. DeSantis and Gov. Abbott are bayonets, barbed wire, and national guard soldiers at the border and DPS troopers militarizing a border,” Garcia said. “You are trying to keep out fellow Christian families. These are fellow Christians seeking refuge and asylum in the United States of America.”

Migrants “deserve that right,” he said.

“Thinking that we can build a wall and deport them all as a solution is another lie,” Garcia said. “It’s making political piñatas out of immigrants. It’s scapegoating, fearmongering, and the worse type of politics that people can do.”

El Paso is again faced with dealing with mass migration at the border, Salcido said. El Paso experienced migrants being released by Border Patrol on city streets last December.

She said the city was proactive this time around when Mayor Oscar Lesser issued an emergency declaration.

“It really helped us get resources here and really, really plan so we can make sure El Pasoans are safe, that the migrants are safe when they come here.” Salcido said.

The city’s welcoming center is prepared to assist migrants, but she worries about staffing levels and how city officials can get resources to help migrants who don’t have the money to travel beyond El Paso.

- Juan Corral

Sen. John Cornyn: Border crisis is 'going to get worse'

Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told reporters in a conference call Thursday he was heartened that the situation in El Paso appeared to be less dire than forecasts had indicated. But he suggested that the border crisis is far from over.

"There are literally hundreds of thousands of migrants assembling on the southern side of the border intending to try to make it across before (Title 42) expires," Cornyn said. "So I think as bad as things have been under Biden's non enforcement policies that it's going to get worse."

The state's senior senator said he watching with interest the progress in the GOP-led U.S. House to pass a comprehensive border security measure. But he noted that whatever emerges faces an uphill road on the Democrat-run Senate.

"I've been involved in almost every immigration debate border security debate since the time I've been in the Senate, which has been for a while now," said Cornyn, who is in his 20th year in office. "And we have never failed to fail when it comes to reforming our broken immigration laws or providing for adequate border security."

- John Moritz

Increased police presence throughout El Paso County

El Paso police and law enforcement agencies in the region will have an increased presence throughout the County, with Title 42 set to expire Thursday night.

"Several migrants have been seen crossing major roadways in large groups and some have entered yards in search of shelter in unoccupied homes or buildings. All of these actions are for public safety, not only for residents but also for migrants entering unknown areas," a statement from the city read.

To help address the safety concerns, El Paso will see an increased presence of uniformed law enforcement personnel across the County, according to city officials.

Law enforcement agencies include the El Paso Police Department, El Paso County Sheriff's Office, UTEP police, and Texas DPS.

- Aaron Bedoya

New group of 400 migrants arrive at Lower Valley encampment

A group of about 400 migrants began arriving at a makeshift migrant border camp near the Rio Grande in El Paso's Lower Valley.

The migrants, a mix of children, women and men, arrived at the camp Thursday morning and early afternoon, hoping to be processed by the Border Patrol as Title 42 is set to expire at 9:59 p.m. tonight.

The migrants were in a line that stretched roughly the length of nearly two football fields. Other migrants could be seen walking along an embankment headed for the location.

This camp sits in an open space with little cover. The migrants were using blankets to shield themselves from the sun. Some migrants were seen carrying water, food and personal items.

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers were nearby, but there was no obvious sight of federal agents or other law enforcement officials working with the migrants. The area is encircled by security wire.

Meanwhile, overnight members for the Texas Tactical Border Force continued to stretch concertina wire along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the Texas Military Department.

- Omar Ornelas

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Title 42 expiration: Live updates as El Paso preps for migrant surge