El Paso, Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser, a Democrat, declared a state of emergency on Saturday, citing the hundreds of illegal immigrants sleeping on the streets in cold temperatures and the thousands being apprehended every day.
Leeser’s announcement comes days from the December 21 expiration of the Title 42 immigration rules, which is expected to increase the flow of illegal crossings that amount to nothing less than an unprecedented invasion of the U.S. southern border. The emergency declaration would give city authorities the resources and ability to shelter illegal immigrants who have crossed the Mexican border.
“I said from the beginning that I would call it when I felt that either our asylum-seekers or community were not safe,” Leeser said at a press conference Saturday in announcing the declaration, the Washington Examiner reported.
“And I really believe that today, our asylum-seekers are not safe as we have hundreds and hundreds on the streets, and that’s not the way we want to treat people.”
The mayor’s declaration only highlights the severity of the invasion, as El Paso, a Democratic stronghold, has had a long history of welcoming illegal immigrants — until now. The city was forced to act, with tens of thousands of illegals crossing the border in recent months, and now the expected surge when the Covid-era border restrictions of Title 42 end this week.
“We know the influx on Wednesday [December 21] will be incredible, it will be huge. On Wednesday our numbers will go from 2,500 to 4,000, 5,000, maybe 6,000,” the mayor said in a Fox News report.
The emergency request includes asking for support in staffing for feeding and housing illegals, resources to transport them into other cities, and additional law-enforcement personnel to help ensure the safety of city residents and the illegals.
Reuters reported that as illegal crossings increased in late August, “the city launched a busing program that sent nearly 14,000 migrants to New York and Chicago, saying many Venezuelans were arriving without U.S. sponsors.” El Paso Deputy Mayor Mario D’Agostino told Reuters on Thursday that the city halted the busing program in October when the Biden administration began expelling Venezuelans back to Mexico under Title 42, but could restart it if Venezuelans are again allowed to cross into El Paso.
One of those busing destination cities was Denver, where Mayor Michael Hancock issued an emergency declaration as well so that the city could free up resources to support the ongoing influx of illegal immigrants.
“This influx of migrants, the unanticipated nature of their arrival, and our current space and staffing challenges have put an immense strain on city resources, to the level where they’re on the verge of reaching a breaking point at this time,” Hancock said at a news conference. “What I don’t want to see is a local humanitarian crisis of unsheltered migrants on our hands because of the lack of resources.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is preparing for an expected surge of illegal entries into the United States this week as well. Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021, which led to the building of a border wall on state land as well as putting up border barriers and deploying gun boats to patrol the Rio Grande River and along the riverbank. They placed razor-wire at low-water crossings and high-traffic areas and installed container blockades to stem the flow of illegal crossings, among other actions.
On Saturday, Abbott released a statement on ramping up border strategies ahead of Title 42 ending. Those strategies included “calling on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for an investigation into the role non-governmental organizations (NGOs) may have in planning and assisting illegal border crossings into Texas.” Those NGOs have reportedly “engaged in unlawfully orchestrating other border crossings through activities on both sides of the border, including in sectors other than El Paso.”
Governor Abbott has enlisted the help of the Texas National Guard to assist in securing the southern border. The Texas National Guard soldiers currently serving Operation Lone Star recently assisted with processing more than 1,000 illegal immigrants in one day. And elements of the 136th Airlift Wing, Texas Air National Guard, and 236th Military Police Company are reported to be on standby to assist and support authorities with border operations, if necessary, in preparation for the repeal of Title 42.
With the now-declared emergency in the Democrat-controlled city of El Paso, President Biden and his administration best take notice and act to truly secure the border and assist in helping to quell the illegal crossings.
There have been more than four million reported illegal-immigrant apprehensions since January 2021 when President Biden took office. Biden has constantly shirked his constitutional duty to protect the border, and has ignored the border invasion that has allowed the flow of not only illegal immigrants, but deadly fentanyl to penetrate well beyond the border. His willful dereliction of his duty to protect the sovereignty of our nation must cease, before it’s too late.
