El Paso mayor declares state of emergency ahead of Title 42 ending

The Democratic mayor of El Paso, Oscar Leeser, has declared a state of emergency ahead of the public health authority Title 42 ending May 11.

Leeser said he declared the emergency “to make sure we can stand up and be prepared for May 12 to have public shelters, temporary housing.” The city’s also opening up two schools as well as preparing staff to handle an influx of tens of thousands of people waiting in Mexico to cross over when Title 42 ends.

The state of emergency lasts through Sunday. The city council will meet next Sunday to ratify it for another 30 days, he said, with the ability to extend it for additional 30-day periods.

Leeser said the city’s already been overwhelmed by people from multiple countries arriving “with a false pretense that there will be open borders starting May 11th and anyone that’s already in the United States will no longer be required to have proper documentation and that is an untrue statement.”

He also reiterated, “we’re not opening the border and the border is not open today and it will not be open on May 12,” a claim U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas made in January ahead of President Joe Biden’s visit to El Paso.

As a record number of people have been apprehended illegally entering the U.S. over the past two years, Mayorkas has repeatedly claimed the border is closed, prompting multiple Republican lawmakers to call for his resignation or impeachment.

On Monday night, local news crews recorded hundreds of people sleeping on sidewalks outside of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic church. One KTSM News reporter said, “this is the most migrants I have ever seen in this area.”

Current situation outside of Sacred Heart Church in El Paso. We are 10 days away from when Title 42 is expected to be lifted. This is the most migrants I have ever seen in this area. pic.twitter.com/qnm5vzZKjF— Shelby Kapp KTSM (@KappKtsm) May 2, 2023

Irene Armendariz-Jackson, president of the Border Security Coalition, also tweeted video recordings of the “conditions Joe Biden’s illegal invasion has caused,” which show Porta potties lining the sidewalks and blocks and blocks of people sitting on the ground.

Here is a video of El Paso yesterday. These are the conditions Joe Biden’s illegal invasion has caused.We can’t keep living like this!More to come on this thread. pic.twitter.com/vvUjWaYf5c— Irene Armendariz-Jackson (@ArmendarizDis16) April 30, 2023

Armendariz-Jackson and others pointed out in January ahead of Biden’s visit that the streets had been swept clean of people. The president didn’t meet with asylum seekers or media during his brief trip to a border city that’s been hit hard by illegal immigration.

Leeser told reporters that he and other officials have spoken to asylum seekers who are currently squatting on city sidewalks that “after May 12, they plan on moving to their next destination.”

Last December, Leeser declared a state of emergency, prompting Gov. Greg Abbott to send 400 National Guard troops to help secure the border and provide emergency assistance.

On Sunday, Leeser didn’t thank the governor but thanked the federal government for providing the city with $22.5 million to provide services to illegal foreign nationals. The city has spent $15 million of it so far, he said.

Leeser also said, “these people aren’t coming to El Paso [as a final destination], they are coming to the United States and our job as local officials and health providers is to make sure that we can help them to go and find transportation and move. Most people will stay here between 24 to 48 hours, sometimes 72 hours, as they come through.”

However, he noted that the local non-government organizations are already starting to fill to capacity and the shelters in Mexico are mostly empty. He said when he went to Mexico, “over there the shelters actually, were not full. One of the shelters only had 66 people.”

He said he anticipates there are between 10,000 and 12,000 people planning to come “on May 11, May 12. We do know that there’s additional coming right behind them.”

Leeser said he expressed concerns to the federal government including Mayorkas, saying, “there’s no end game to this. This is still going to continue … we can’t continue as a city and as a country to continue” because “the federal process is broken.”