EL PASO, Texas — Conditions in the heart of downtown El Paso leave no doubt as to the need for Mayor Oscar Leeser’s second disaster declaration in the past six months. Breitbart Texas visited the city observing more than 1,000 migrants, many of whom lack funds to leave the border region, camped on city sidewalks and in nearby alleys.
At the city’s press conference announcing the declaration, Mayor Leeser told reporters, “We are getting prepared now for what we call the unknown, and the unknown is what will happen after May 11.” Leeser told reporters he visited nearby Juarez, Mexico, to estimate the number of potential migrants ready to cross into the United States as the deadline for the expiration of the Title 42 Emergency COVID-19 expulsion authority nears. In a late April news report, the Governor of the Mexican border state of Chihuahua estimated 35,000 migrants may be prepared to make the crossing from Juarez, Mexico into El Paso in the coming weeks.
Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas
Leeser followed up by saying the city was issuing an emergency declaration to secure the necessary funding to deal with the border crisis and in preparation to staff facilities to accommodate the influx of asylum-seeking migrants. Lesser said the city is prepared to open two schools in the city for use as migrant shelters if needed but permanent housing was not part of the emergency planning.
A group of mostly Venezuelan migrants camp out on the streets of El Paso as the mayor declares a second border-related emergency in six months. (Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas
Since November, according to a city of El Paso emergency migrant dashboard, the city received more than $26.5 million dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to deal with the costs associated with the migrant crossings. In March, FEMA issued $9.56 million in one single disbursement to the city.
The migrants Breitbart Texas spoke with said they were being fed by a downtown welcome center and by the American Red Cross. Portable toilets and handwashing stations were placed in and around the Sacred Heart Catholic Church for use by the migrants. The migrants, some of whom have been camping on the streets for more than nine days say they do not have any facilities available for bathing.
Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas
One local business, owner who asked not to be identified, told Breitbart the migrants have not caused any trouble except for using the store’s bathroom to bathe. Aside from that, the business owner says sales have increased over the last several days due to the number of migrants in the area surrounding his store. El Paso Police officers and Texas Highway Patrol troopers were stationed in several locations around the downtown area to provide security.
Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas
As reported by Breitbart Texas, Border Patrol agents assigned to the El Paso Sector apprehended more than 41,000 migrants in April, making the sector the busiest crossing point along the southwest border. The total April apprehension figure is up from the 39,512 taken into custody in March.
In a recent joint press conference with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a statement concerning conditions at the border. Mayorkas told reporters “The smuggler’s propaganda is false. Let me be clear: Our border is not open and will not be open after May 11th.”
Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas
The scene Breitbart Texas witnessed in downtown El Paso contradicts the Secretary’s border assessment and shows the scale of the routine DHS practice of “catch and release” for a significant number of migrants hoping to gain release into the United States to pursue asylum claims.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.