El Paso County is getting ready to issue emergency declarations against illegal immigrants amid the forthcoming end of the Trump-era border policy “Title 42.”
Judge Ricardo Samaniego said that the orders will allow each entity to solicit money now from the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
“It’s not necessarily because of inability to handle it – I don’t want anyone to believe it’s based on that – but so we are able to obtain funding that is necessary to continue a very humanitarian focus,” Samaniego said. “Worst-case scenario we would have to find a large place to address that issue instead of having it throughout the community.”
Republican lawmakers have sued to stop the end of “Title 42,” with a judge issuing a temporary order to halt it earlier this month.
This comes after President Joe Biden announced last month that he would be lifting Title 42, a controversial border policy implemented by Trump back in March 2020 that allowed the U.S. Border Patrol to turn migrants away.
The order has since been used by both the Trump and Biden administration, with the latter arguing that it was necessary to curb the spread of COVID-19 inside border detention facilities.
The border agency has also expressed concerns that ending Title 42 could lead to a possible surge in illegal immigrants that could overwhelm them, as a large number of migrants in Mexican cities are apparently waiting for the policy to drop.
Samaniego added that the U.S. Border Patrol has reported 1,500 apprehensions in the El Paso Sector in just two days. And last Sunday, immigration facilities and nonprofit shelters in the city were so overwhelmed that border agents had to release 119 migrants at a Downtown El Paso bus station.
“Yesterday, we met with 150 agents at the command center. The strategy is ‘what if’ and how do we address it. Right now, the low-hanging fruit is we need a processing center … (help) the 35 percent of the people (released by immigration officers) so they can get their tickets and move on. We’re combining that with shelter” space, he said.
“Title 42” is on track to end on May 23, giving the Department of Homeland Security time to prepare for an expected increase in migrants at the border.
