El Paso City Council discusses migrant surge solutions, challenges

EL PASO, Texas - As El Paso governments continue to grapple with the latest migrant surge, City Council addressed the largest challenge today, which is money.

Today El Paso City Council discussed the rising cost of helping migrants coming through the Borderland.

In recent weeks, the Borderland has seen thousands of migrants coming into El Paso.

So far, costs have sky-rocketed from $55 thousand a day to upwards of $250 thousand a day.

City manager Tommy Gonzalez said they continue to work with Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, FEMA, The White House, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to secure funding for the migrant crisis. The federal government recently reimbursed the city $482,000 from a request made back in December of 2021. The city has also received $2 million from FEMA for future costs. In October, the city will be allowed to request reimbursement for up to $3 million from the Federal Government for services already provided.