El Paso, Texas officials declare a state of emergency as they prepare for thousands of illegal migrants to storm the southern border of the state.
During a press conference, Mayor Oscar Leeser announced a Declaration of Disaster, saying that he could no longer keep residents safe from the influx of migrants coming in through the border as Title-42 is about to expire on Wednesday.
“Talking to some of our federal partners they believe that on Wednesday our numbers will go to 4-, 5- or 6,000, and when I asked them, I said do you believe that you guys can handle it today, the answer was no. And when I heard the answer was no, I knew we had to do something right away,” Leeser said.
The Trump-era policy, which allowed border agents to expel to Mexico certain migrants upon encounter, will be lifted in a matter of days. Officials expect at least 6,000 illegal immigrants to arrive at the border every day.
“We know the influx on Wednesday [December 21] will be incredible it will be huge. On Wednesday our numbers will go from 2,500 to 4,000, 5,000, maybe 6,000,” Leeser said.
The use of the declaration allows Leeser to call for additional help from the state.
The Mayor has requested support in staffing for feeding and housing migrants, resources to transport the migrants into other cities, and additional law enforcement personnel to help ensure the safety of residents and the migrants.
“I said from the beginning that I would call it when I felt that either our asylum seekers or community were not safe,” Leeser said, adding “that's not the way we want to treat people and by calling a state of an emergency it gives us the ability today to be able to do what we couldn't do until we called it.”
The Office of Emergency Management (OEM) has already been sending out roving teams to assist the illegal migrants that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are releasing in the city.
Despite multiple warnings, President Joe Biden has decided to end Title 42. This comes after a border patrol intelligence alert released a report warning that more than 40,000 illegal immigrants are said to be staged in the Mexican state of Chiapas along the Mexico/Guatemala border and will soon be knocking on the doors of U.S. states.
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