EL PASO, Texas — The streets by the city's Grey Hound bus station is starting to look more and more like Los Angeles' Skid Row neighborhood as hundreds of processed and released migrants who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border continue to be dropped off by Border Patrol with nowhere to go.
The city has declared a state of emergency as local shelters and resources are being stretched thin due to the historic influx of crossings into the El Paso Sector. On Tuesday evening, hundreds of people once again prepared to spend the night outside as temperatures are expected to drop to the low 30's.
All of this is taking place as the Supreme Court is deciding whether to allow the Biden administration to lift Title 42, set to originally expire at midnight Wednesday, but even with the public health order in place, border cities are reaching a breaking point due to the continued large number of people illegally entering the United States to claim asylum. Republican states have brought a lawsuit to keep Title 42 in place but the Department of Justice says they are prepared to handle the expected increase in border crossings.
As Townhall previously reported, El Paso International Airport has become a shelter for people who managed to secure a flight out of town. Blankets on the ground and entire rows of seats taken by the recently released migrants is now a common sight on the way to pick up checked bags.
The Texas National Guard has been deployed along a popular crossing spot at the Rio Grande, a move ordered by Governor Greg Abbott (R) to stem the tide of illegal entries prior to Title 42 going away.
NEW: More @FoxNews video showing TX National Guard deployment to Rio Grande in El Paso, TX. Concertina wire deployed and humvees lining up in same area where massive caravan crossed last week.
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) December 20, 2022
TX Gov. Abbott sent 400 soldiers to El Paso in advance of possible T42 drop tonight. pic.twitter.com/OiUwTYbd6a
Shipping containers, complete with razor wire and floodlights, have also been placed at the banks of the Rio Grande by Eagle Pass, Texas.
While Venezuelans have been recently subjected to Title 42, it appears that is no longer the case as many of the people I met on El Paso's streets were Venezuelans. Most recently, people crossing into El Paso have been from Colombia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Peru, with Venezuelans waiting in Mexico for the order to be lifted.