El Paso County leaders to discuss additional plans to house migrants
EL PASO, Texas -- With the potential lifting of Title 42 looming, El Paso County Commissioners will be discussing additional plans to help alleviate some of the stress on non-governmental agencies or NGOs like Annunciation House.
This comes after the director of El Paso's largest network of migrant shelters, Ruben Garcia, asked on the city, county, and federal government to step up and help.
Garcia said shelters are already overwhelmed ahead of the potential lifting of the health policy. Customs and Border Protection released more than 100 migrants at a downtown El Paso bus station on Sunday.
"I have absolutely no doubt, that if in fact, Title 42 is lifted, on May the 23rd, you're going to see many, many individuals having to be released to the street. It will, without question overwhelm the NGO capacity," Garcia said.
On top of wanting more hospitality shelters, the need for volunteers to run them is even greater.
Garcia is already working with the Office of Emergency Management to train employees at Casa Del Refugiado, one of the largest shelters, but Garcia is asking city and county to take over operations.
City representatives request Mayor Oscar Lesser to sign an emergency order to purse state and federal resources. The declaration requires council to review it and approve it sometime next week.
The county commissioner meeting is set for 9 a.m. on Thursday. For more stories on the potential lifting of Title 42, click here.
