El Paso opens new shelter, buses migrants to other cities amid surge
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Migrants wait to be processed on Mexico's side of the border in El Paso, Texas, last week. Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
El Paso, Texas, is scrambling to accommodate the influx of migrants crossing the border from Mexico, with over 2,000 migrants entering the U.S. seeking asylum per day, officials said Saturday.
The big picture: The high volume of border crossings into El Paso mirrors the historic number of migrant family crossings last month, new government data revealed.
What they're saying: "The city of El Paso only has so many resources and we have come to ... a breaking point right now, and so we have to look at different resources," El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said Saturday at a press conference.
- Leeser said El Paso, which does not have the facilities to hold the growing number of migrants in the city, is opening up an additional shelter that can hold roughly 400 people.
- "So, this is something that we've been prepared for, but these numbers have really escalated a lot quicker than we ever anticipated," he added.
By the numbers: El Paso officials said around 6,500 migrants are seeking shelter, and the city anticipates more of an influx in the coming days as U.S. Customs and Border Protection processes additional people.
Officials said five busses were chartered Saturday to send migrants to cities including Denver, New York and Chicago.
- The individuals boarding the buses are doing so voluntarily and are going to destinations of their choosing, officials said.
- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to "deploy more buses to Eagle Pass & El Paso amid the migrant surge," per a Friday post on X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter.
- "Texas border towns should not have to shoulder the burden of Biden's open border policies," he wrote, adding that the state "will continue to send buses to sanctuary cities to provide relief to overrun border towns."
Zoom in: Many of the migrants are from Venezuela, and officials say they lack transportation or money to get to the cities they are trying to reach.
- 31,000 Venezuelans crossed into the U.S. just last month, and 70% chose to cross illegally despite Biden's legal parole program specifically developed for them.
- President Biden on Wednesday gave Venezuelans who were already in the U.S. before the end of July temporary legal status so that they can legally live and work in the U.S. for at least the next year and a half.
Go deeper: Border crossings by migrant families hits record high
