Texas land commissioner: State's Dem mayors ready to declare state of emergency as Title 42 ends

Texas Land Commissioner Dr. Dawn Buckingham says Democrat mayors in her state are so concerned about the surge of migrants and related problems when Title 42 is lifted Thursday that they are ready to declare a state of emergency. 

Buckingham used the border city of El Paso as an example. 

"You've got the Democrat mayor in El Paso ready to declare a state of emergency," Buckingham said on a recent "John Solomon Reports" podcast.

Title 42 is a decades-old public health rule activated by the Trump administration at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to limit migration into the country to prevent the spread of the virus. 

"All of the immigrant housing and shelters are completely overrun," Buckingham said about El Paso. "As we see Title 42 coming to a close, we've got tens-of-thousands of immigrants amassing on the other side of our border, just getting ready to come across."

The Biden administration last week approved the temporary deployment of 1,500 active-duty troops to the country's southern border to assist the U.S. Border Patrol before the expiration of Title 42, which has allowed the U.S. to quickly deport asylum-seekers to contain the spread of COVID.

Buckingham said the Texas General Land Office is doing a lot of innovative work to help ease the crisis, as it is expected to get worse. 

"I'm going to do everything in my power to get complete operational control of the border, which we all know is the federal government's responsibility," she said. "But where they fail, we will continue to step up and defend Texas and the rest of the country."

Last month, Buckingham authorized the state Department of Public Safety and Texas Rangers permission to access Texas-owned islands located in the Rio Grande, in the state's Maverick County, to curb the record migration at the border.

"One of them was 45 acres as Texas property so that law enforcement can have access to them and take away one of the staging points that the immigrants have been using," he said. "This is overwhelming our communities and is completely unacceptable."