Migrant situation in El Paso hits the airport after safe community releases
EL PASO, Texas -- A week after the safe community releases started in the city, reports indicate migrants are backlogged at the airport.
According to a New York Post article, the surge of migrants may overwhelm the airport.
This was after the city ended the former bus program that was sending migrants to New York.
ABC-7 reported last week more migrants had been released into the streets on their way to their final destination. Some of them have had to wait before they can find transportation.
City's Spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta says the stay of migrants at the airport is due just to the fact that any ticketed passenger has a 12-hour period that they can be at the airport prior their flight. This is an airport policy for anyone traveling.
"In order to accommodate the volume of folks that we were seen waiting for a flight the next morning, we went ahead and offer an opportunity for them to be able to at least sleep in a cot overnight. So it's a small window of time that they are staying there," Cruz-Acosta said.
Cruz-Acosta clarified that the airport doesn't offer to the migrants any shelter services.
The New York Post also reported that after the city closed its welcome center, the number of migrants waiting at the airport increased. Migrants were waiting for their flights at that welcoming center, now with fewer options, they needed to find new options.
