Nearly 300 newly arrived migrants were released by officials in Yuma, Ariz., on Friday, showing how border towns are struggling to cope with the huge spike in arrivals over the past week.
It coincided with the end of Title 42 and the lifting of a Trump-era restriction intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The result was that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had held up to 28,000 migrants at its facilities, according to a local official, well beyond its capacity.
On Thursday, Yuma’s mayor announced that the CBP plans to release migrants in the city who had not yet been fully processed, though he insisted they had been “screened.”
Three white buses with blacked-out windows pulled into the Yuma Public Safety Training Facility near the city’s airport on Friday afternoon.
Nearly 300 newly arrived migrants were released by officials in Yuma, Ariz., on Friday, showing how difficult border towns are struggling to cope with a huge surge
Migrants were spotted boarding buses in Yuma, Ariz., coinciding with the end of Title 42 and the lifting of a Trump-era restriction meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19
Three white buses with blacked-out windows pulled into the Yuma Public Safety Training Facility near the city’s airport on Friday afternoon
The location was a closely guarded secret, but was on hand to witness the release. According to an information document, 141 people were released.
Streams of people could be seen getting off the buses and being directed to a shaded waiting area where there was at least some protection from temperatures of 30C.
From there, it is understood they will be loaded onto buses that will take them to Phoenix.
A similar release of about 140 people followed in the morning at another location in Yuma and nearby San Luis.
Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines said the trial was an admission that federal authorities just couldn’t handle.
“This is depressing and the federal government relies on local and state government to do their job,” Lines said.
“It is another failure by the Biden administration to address a problem it created with its open borders policy.”
A day earlier, Mayor Douglas Nicholls urged the people of Yuma to remain calm.
“These are people who have been screened at least to the point where border police have asked them to show papers anywhere in the country they live,” he said.
A group of nuns were seen on Friday distributing food to migrants resting along the train tracks in Huehuetoca, Mexico, as they tried to board a freight train heading north as the mass influx continued
The picture shows tents on the banks of the Rio Grande in Matamoros. Across the river is the Texas city of Brownsville
A woman serving coffee at the migrant camp in Matamoros on Friday shows what life is like for those hoping to cross the border
Migrants camped on the banks of the Rio Grande in Matamoros, across the river from Brownsville, Texas, are seen Friday as a church group gave them rice and beans
“You must follow the court case. Unfortunately, it takes three to seven years to complete this entire process.’
And he insisted that those released posed no danger.
“I ask everyone, all of our citizens, to remain calm.” “There are no people who have been convicted of crimes who are being released,” he said.
There was immediate hope that Friday might have eased the crisis.
After a week of arrivals, Friday morning was eerily quiet at the border wall outside of Yuma.
The Biden administration had reinforced the message that it had instituted a new strict regime to turn away anyone who did not use a legal route of entry.
Chris Clem, the former Yuma sector chief border guard, said it was too early to celebrate.
“I’m sure the government is working feverishly with Mexico behind the scenes.” “I’m sure they’re doing a lot to get this under control,” he said
“And I believe that will controls things and will make things happen.”
“Then maybe it’s the migrants trying to figure it out.” Do they want to get in the rush? Do you want to wait a few days and see how things develop?’
Title 42 was activated by the Trump administration to curb the spread of COVID-19. This is a public health measure that allows border authorities to immediately deport arrivals before they can even apply for asylum.
Members of the Texas National Guard watch from the US side as migrants attempt to cross the border after Title 42 ended
At dawn, migrants protested at the National Institute of Migration (INM) Provisional Attention Center in Tapachula, Mexico, following the suspension of transit permits through Mexico
But after the pandemic was over, it finally ended Thursday at midnight Eastern time.
The Biden administration rushed in new restrictions, effectively restoring Trump’s “transit ban,” which allows for the deportation of arrivals who have not sought asylum in the countries through which they have traveled.
Migrants can legally report at the border if they have pre-registered via the CBP One mobile app.
But there were catches. A last-minute court challenge blocked plans to speed up the release of migrants from border guard detention.
Administration officials also said it was too early to declare victory.
“Overnight we saw similar patterns to the past few days.” “We continue to encounter high numbers of non-citizens at the border, but we have not seen any significant overnight surge nor midnight inflow,” Blas Nuñez said -Neto, Assistant Secretary of Borders and Immigration Policy for the Department of Homeland Security, told reporters a briefing call.
Images that have emerged in the wake of the end of Title 42 have shed light on the sheer numbers of migrants hoping to cross the border after the end of the pandemic-era border restriction.
A refugee camp that stretched two miles in length could be seen in the Mexican border town of Matamoros — suggesting that despite the Biden administration’s border protocol change on Thursday, thousands more people wanted to cross the border.
Border Patrol agents on the US side of the border said it was unusually quiet at the crossings.
10,000 people have been stopped every day for the past few weeks as migrants rushed to cross before the system changed.
Angry Chicago residents who overwhelmingly voted for President Biden in the last election have spoken out in anger against the hundreds of migrants being brought into their neighborhoods
On Man questioned why a leader would put “black communities” at even greater risk by placing unscreened non-taxpayers just steps away from seniors, children and their homes
Some have commented on the increase, keeping in mind the limited housing options in some regions.
In upstate New York, dozens of homeless veterans have been evicted from their hotels to make way for the influx of migrants.
The fighting veterans were only told earlier in the week that they were making way for the migrants, a nonprofit veterans organization told the New York Post.
On Chicago’s South Shore, angry residents of the pro-Democracy neighborhoods that overwhelmingly voted for President Biden in the last election have spoken out against the hundreds of migrants being brought into the area.
They said the flooding caused longtime residents to be removed from the shelter waitlist, and they had particular trouble with a former South Shore high school being used as a residence hall for up to 500 migrants, though officials haven’t given an end date yet have announced.
South Shore residents responded with clear dissent, speaking out after a lawsuit was filed, alleging that the school had not been designated as a residential area and that residents were not properly consulted about the plans.
“All these resources that are not available to us now, you want to overcompensate for people who have never lived here before. We must be taken care of first, before anything else happens!” asked a woman.
“Many of these migrants were abandoned without a plan to monitor and house them over the long term,” explained another.
Though blame was shifted primarily to the Biden administration, a Texas reporter inflamed Senator Ted Cruz’s fury when he asked what Republicans had done to create workable policies on the US-Mexico border.
Ted Cruz is seen Thursday at a news conference in the Texas city of Brownsville on the state of the US-Mexico border
An enraged Cruz yelled that the reporter “should be ashamed of his question,” accused him of “parroting” Democrats’ talking points, and demanded that he provide statistics.
The bad-tempered exchange of blows led other reporters to rally in defense of their fellow journalist, and Cruz then angrily waved them off.
Cruz was in the Texas city of Brownsville, which borders the Mexican city of Matamoros, to witness the scenes when Title 42 was lifted.
He held a press conference with members of the border police and strongly condemned the Joe Biden administration for allowing chaos at the border.