Migrants have a big impact on the homeless shelters in El Paso
EL PASO, Texas - Migrants continue to cross the border into the city. The five homeless shelters in El Paso are either at capacity or over capacity.
"We're sitting at 117 for a program that can comfortably handle 85, the same is true for our men's program," said John Martin, Deputy Director of the Opportunity Center for the Homeless.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection have released a steady stream of figures showing that the number of illegal immigrants entering through the southern border has soared to record levels. Those numbers are poised to get worse.
Title 42 protections that allowed feds to expel migrants more quickly because of COVID-19 concerns are set to expire later this month, and experts predict a surge of illegal immigrants are awaiting that expiration.
People living on the streets have a much higher risk than the general population of developing fatal cases of hypothermia or frostbite. Each year, 700 people at risk or experiencing homelessness are killed from hypothermia in the United States. People who experience homelessness have an average life expectancy of around 50 years of age, almost 20 years lower than people who are housed.
