EL PASO, Texas — Along the southern U.S. border, two cities — El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico — were preparing on Sunday for the arrival of up to 5,000 additional migrants a day once lifted the restrictions. COVID-19 pandemic in the coming days, putting in place plans to provide emergency shelter, food and other basic services.
On the Mexican side of the international border, in the morning there were only piles of used clothes, shoes and backpacks left on the banks of the Rio Grande (Rio Grande), where until a couple of days ago hundreds of people were queuing up to turn themselves in to the US authorities. A young Ecuadorian looked on uncertainly from the Mexican side; He asked two reporters if they knew anything about what would happen to him if he turned himself in without a US sponsor, then he carefully took off his shoes and socks and started wading through the shallows.
On the US side, next to a small fence guarded by several Border Patrol vehicles, he joined a line of about ten people awaiting the arrival of federal agents.
El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego told the Associated Press on Sunday that the region, home to one of the busiest border crossings in the country, was coordinating reception and relocation efforts with nongovernmental organizations and other cities. He also called on the state and federal governments to send humanitarian aid as he prepares for a massive surge of new migrants starting Wednesday, when the Title 42 public health measure is expected to end.
TITLE 42 DISCOURAGED MORE THAN 2.5 MILLION MIGRANTS
That rule has been used to dissuade more than 2.5 million migrants from crossing the border since March 2020.
In a migrant shelter a short distance from the river in a poor neighborhood of Ciudad Juárez, Carmen Aros, 31, did not know much about US politics. In fact, she said she heard the border might close on December 21st.
She fled drug cartel violence in the Mexican state of Zacatecas a month ago, shortly after the birth of her fifth child and her husband’s disappearance. The Methodist pastor who runs the Good Samaritan shelter has put her on a list to receive humanitarian parole in the United States, and every week she awaits the call.
“They told me that there was a mental asylum in Juarez… the truth is that I knew little about it”, she commented sitting on a bunk that she shares with the girls. “We came here… to see if the US government will solve our case.”
FROM MEXICAN REFUGEES, MIGRANTS WATCH THE WORLD CUP FINAL
In a huge shelter run by the Mexican government in what used to be a factory in Ciudad Juárez, dozens of migrants watched the World Cup final on two televisions on Sunday while a team of doctors arriving from El Paso treated many suffering from respiratory diseases in the midst of low temperatures.
Constant political changes make plans difficult, said Dylan Corbett, director of the Hope Border Institute, a Catholic organization that assists migrants in Ciudad Juárez and El Paso. The group started the clinic two months ago.
“There’s a lot of contained pain,” Corbett said. “I’m worried about what’s going to happen.” Faced with the chaos of government policies, “most of the work falls on religious communities to try to fix things and deal with the consequences”.
A couple of blocks across the border, El Paso saw sleet falling as some 80 migrants huddled together over tacos cooked by volunteers. Forecasts call for temperatures in the region to drop below freezing this week.
“We will continue to give them whatever we can,” said Veronica Castorena, who came with her husband with tortillas and ground beef, as well as some blankets, for those who might spend the night on the road.
Jeff Petion, owner of a trucking school in the city, said this is the second time he and his employees have come to help migrants on the streets. “They’re out there, they’re cold, they’re hungry, so I wanted them to know they’re not alone,” he said.
But outside Petion’s affairs, Kathy Countiss, a retiree, has expressed concern that newcomers are getting out of hand in El Paso, draining resources and attracting the attention of law enforcement, instead of protect the streets of El Paso.
EL PASO HAS RELEASED AN EMERGENCY STATEMENT SEEKING RESOURCES
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser on Saturday issued a statewide declaration of emergency to access additional resources at the state and local levels for shelter installations and other urgent assistance.
Samaniego said the order came a day after authorities in El Paso sent Texas Governor Gregg Abbott a letter requesting humanitarian assistance for the region. He said the request was for resources to help care for and relocate newly arrived migrants, not for sending additional security items.
The judge indicated that he has not received a response to the request and that, in the event the city does not receive state assistance soon, he plans to issue a county-wide emergency declaration detailing the type of assistance needed in the area. . He called on state and federal authorities to provide additional funds, assuring that they already had the strategy, but lacked financial, essential and voluntary resources.
El Paso officials have been working closely with nongovernmental organizations to provide temporary shelter for migrants while they are processed and assigned sponsors, as well as help them relocate to larger cities where they can fly or bus to their final destinations, he said. said Samaniego. Starting Wednesday, they will join forces with non-governmental organizations in an emergency command center, he added, similar to what they have done in response to the COVID-19 emergency.
Neither Abbott nor El Paso or US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials immediately responded to requests for comment.
Abbott has committed billions of dollars to “Operation Lone Star,” an unprecedented border security effort that has included sending migrants by bus to “sanctuary” cities like New York, Los Angeles and Washington, DC, as well as a There is a huge presence of state agents and the National Guard along the Texas-Mexico border.
In addition, the Republican governor has spearheaded efforts to build former President Donald Trump’s border wall on private land along the Mexican border and raised money to finance the project.
Of the nine Border Patrol sectors along the Mexican border, El Paso was the fifth busiest until last March, and suddenly became by far the most popular in October, leaving behind Del Rio, Texas, which it in turn had replaced the Rio Grande Valley at breakneck speed late last year. It is unknown why El Paso has become such a strong magnet, particularly in September.
The policy imposed by former President Donald Trump, which allows the expulsion of migrants from the border due to the COVID-19 pandemic, would end on December 21. To see more from Telemundo, visit https://www.nbc.com/networks/telemundo.
The recent surge of activity in El Paso – initially by Venezuelans and more recently by Nicaraguans – was reminiscent of a brief period in 2019 when the western tip of Texas and the eastern reaches of New Mexico were quickly overwhelmed by the arrival of migrants from Cuba and Central America. For years, El Paso has been a relatively safe area for illegal border crossings.
Meanwhile, a group of about 300 migrants began walking north from an area near the Mexico-Guatemala border on Saturday before Mexican authorities stopped them. Some of them wanted to reach the northern border on 21 December, mistakenly believing that the end of the measure would mean they would no longer be able to seek asylum.
Misinformation about US immigration rules is common among migrants. The caravan is made up mostly of Central Americans and Venezuelans who had crossed the southern border into Mexico and had waited in vain to receive transit or exit visas, immigration formats that would allow them to cross Mexican territory towards the border with the United.
