El Paso, Texas- Migrants in El Paso could soon face a dire situation as temperatures dip below freezing and shelters are overwhelmed, Assistant City Manager Mario D’Agostino said Tuesday.
“Our problem now is that we are looking at capacity within our shelter system,” D’Agostino said during a virtual press conference on the new wave of immigrants. Along with cold weather and even flurries of snow, he said there is “additional stress” on the system.
Migrants cross the Rio Grande River to turn themselves in to US Border Patrol agents in El Paso, Texas, on December 13, 2022.
(Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images)
About 2,500 people cross into the United States near El Paso every day, according to Border Patrol.
That’s a nearly 50% increase from the September wave of migrants, when Customs and Border Protection agents apprehended about 1,700 migrants each day in the El Paso sector.
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“We have never seen migration in numbers of this magnitude,” D’Agostino said. “And not for such a long period.”
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He added that CBP’s practice of releasing hundreds of migrants directly onto the streets of El Paso each day adds to the pressure.
“Our infrastructure can’t keep up,” D’Agostino said. “There are not enough flights. There is not enough bus transportation out of the city every day to allow for same-day travel.”
Migrants camping on the streets of El Paso, Texas, December 14, 2022.
(Jon Michael Raasch/Fox News Digital)
So far, though, D’Agostino said he hasn’t been notified of anyone sleeping rough who didn’t want to.
“Many people choose to go out alone or wait for the next bus to leave the city,” he said. “That’s something they’re free to do.”
A Customs and Border Protection bus drops dozens of migrants, mostly from Venezuela, at the City of El Paso migrant welcome center on September 22, 2022.
(Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)
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The city has spent $9.5 million helping immigrants 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.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is requesting $4 billion in additional funding for the border. The federal government expects border crossings to increase further when Title 42 authority to quickly remove migrants ends later this month.
Ramiro Vargas contributed to this video.
