Sunday ABC-7 Xtra: Migrant surge expected after lifting of Title 42
EL PASO, Texas - Most El Pasoans may recall the migrant surge in 2019, when hundreds of migrants would walk right up to the border barrier and surrender to border patrol agents.
Many of those migrants were requesting asylum.
Agents were overwhelmed driving from one end of the barrier to another, picking up those migrants and taking them to processing centers.
El Paso gained notoriety when officials set up temporary shelters to house migrants in various parts of El Paso, including under the Santa Fe Bridge.
But once Trump administration policies went into effect, like Remain in Mexico and Title 42, the surge seemed to diminish.
Title 42 is scheduled to expire on May 23rd.
That health order gives border patrol agents the power to expel migrants immediately without the migrant being processed out of fear the migrant could spread covid 19.
Government and social agencies say that eliminating Title 42 would open the floodgates to yet another surge and are sounding the alarm.
Sunday on ABC-7 Xtra, guests Ruben Garcia with Annunciation House Shelter and former Border Patrol chief Victor Manjarrez, talked about preparations for the anticipated surge, Title 42 and what political leaders should be doing to overhaul immigration laws.
