El Paso official says latest migrant surge unsustainable
Infrastructure cannot keep up as approximately 2,500 migrants cross the southern border near El Paso each day, according to one city official.
EL PASO, Texas – Migrants in El Paso could soon face a dire situation as temperatures drop below freezing and shelters exceed capacity, Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino said Tuesday.
"Our issue is now that we're looking at capacity within our shelter system," D’Agostino said during a virtual press conference addressing the new surge of immigrants. Coupled with cold weather and even snow flurries, he said there's an "added strain" on the system.
Migrants walk across the Rio Grande to surrender to U.S. Border Patrol agents in El Paso, Texas, Dec. 13, 2022. (Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images)
About 2,500 people are crossing into the United States near El Paso every day, according to Border Patrol.
That's a nearly 50% increase from September's wave of migrants, when Customs and Border Protection agents apprehended around 1,700 migrants each day in the El Paso sector.
"We've never seen a migration in numbers to this extent," D’Agostino said. "And not for such a sustained period."
WE ‘CANNOT KEEP UP’: NEW MIGRANT SURGE OVERWHELMS EL PASO:
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He added that CBP's practice of releasing hundreds of migrants directly into the streets of El Paso each day is adding pressure.
"Our infrastructure cannot keep up," D'Agostino said. "There's not enough flights. There's not enough bus transport out of town on a daily basis to allow same-day travel."
Migrants camping on the streets of El Paso, Texas, Dec. 14, 2022. (Jon Michael Raasch/Fox News Digital)
So far, however, D'Agostino said he has not been notified of anyone sleeping in the streets who did not want to do so.
"A lot of people are choosing to be out on their own or waiting for the next bus out of town," he said. "That's something that they're free to do."
A Customs and Border Protection bus drops off dozens of migrants, mostly from Venezuela, at the City of El Paso's migrant welcome center Sept. 22, 2022. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)
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The city has spent $9.5 million assisting migrants this year, The Texas Tribune reported. The federal government has reimbursed $2.2 million so far and is expected to provide another $4.6 million.
The Biden administration, meanwhile, is requesting $4 billion in additional funding for the border. The federal government expects border crossings to increase even more when the Title 42 authority to quickly expel migrants ends later this month.
Ramiro Vargas contributed to this video.
