14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 13 December 2022 — In just 48 hours, 16,000 irregular migrants have entered from the Mexican border to the United States, according to Border Patrol data. The officers have the order to “process faster” and take at least 10,000 people out of custody “by any means,” before Tuesday’s visit to El Paso (Texas) by the Secretary of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, said journalist Ali Bradley.
On Monday, the largest crossing of a single group made up of 1,500 migrants through El Paso was recorded. “The Border Patrol has more than 5,000 undocumented people in custody and left hundreds free on the streets of the city,” said journalist Bill Melugin, of Fox News. These people spent the night outdoors with temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
For El Paso, an average of “2,460 illegal daily crossings” of groups of Cubans, Nicaraguans, Ecuadoreans, Venezuelans, Guatemalans and Hondurans have been recorded, according to officer Peter Jaquez. A week before the end of Title 42, which addresses the expeditious return of migrants, border cities and charitable organizations feared the daily and massive arrival of migrants as has happened in El Paso and have asked the Biden Government for help to receive these families.
“We were asked for support and received family groups. We give them a way to work,” Ana Laura Rodela, general coordinator of the Leona Vicario Integration Centre for Migration, told EFE on Monday. “Everyone who enters can have a formal job. Right now there are three trucks arriving, with 600 people. They are families mainly from Ecuador and Nicaragua. We will have to disperse people in this shelter because they won’t all fit here.”
Last Thursday, 535 Cubans swam across the Rio Grande and surrendered to the Border Patrol in Eagle Pass, Texas. It was then the largest group that had suddenly entered the United States. The Cubans were gathered in an area near the Lehmann ranch along with 74 other migrants from Nicaragua, 49 from Colombia, three from Ecuador, three from Mexico and 12 unaccompanied children.
Speaking to the ABC channel, Lieutenant Chris Olivarez, of the Texas Department of Public Security, warned that “El Paso had never experienced anything like this massive migration. The numbers are historic. We must find a way to stop this, a policy needs to be implemented.”
NEW: In Brownsville, TX we once again witnessed Border Patrol mass releasing hundreds of migrants at a parking garage. A NGO across street then helps organize their travel around the US.
BP source tells me they release hundreds here almost daily, sometimes 10 busloads in a day. pic.twitter.com/mpgNTSkErU— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) December 13, 2022
Texas Congressman Henry Cuéllar, for his part, asked President Biden for greater security at the border and said that the problem is that criminals are taking the opportunity to do business by taking migrants across the border, because it is open.
On the border of Chihuahua (Mexico) there are several groups of migrants organizing their entry into the United States. In Matamoros, Tamaulipas, a Mexican border city on the other side of Brownsville, Texas, there are thousands of migrants waiting for December 21, the day Title 42 comes to an end.
Title 42 is a measure ordered by the Donald Trump Administration (2017-2021) under the excuse of the pandemic, which has allowed the expeditious expulsions of more than 2.7 million migrants.
Several media outlets have reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeks to obtain an additional 3 billion dollars from Congress to deal with the increase in the arrival of undocumented migrants once Title 42 is cancelled.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
