Immigrants denied entry into the U.S. are gathering on Mexico’s southern border as they prepare for the end of Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that barred migrants from entering the country.
Venezuelan asylum seeker Samuel Guerra told The Post he plans to be among an “avalanche” of immigrants he predicts will enter the US.
He currently lives in a tent city of mostly Venezuelans half a football field from El Paso, Texas – with only the Rio Grande and the Title 42 standing between him and the United States.
A federal judge Tuesday ended Trump-era policies that have thrown more than 2.3 million immigrants out of the country since its inception in 2020.
The court gave the federal government five weeks to shut it down, meaning it officially ends on December 21.
“In December there will be an avalanche of people; a sea of people,” Guerra told The Post Thursday night.
Title 42 applied primarily to migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador but was extended to Venezuelans. Go Nakamura for NY Post
A federal judge ended the policy, which threw more than 2.3 million immigrants out of the country. Go Nakamura for NY Post
A Washington Post report in March said that without Title 42 on the southern border, up to 18,000 people could cross the border every day — almost three times the current level, as people from crumbling states in Colombia, Venezuela and other areas of central and southern Africa flee South America.
Title 42 applied primarily to migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, but was extended to Venezuelans earlier this year after they poured across the border in their thousands to seek asylum. Asylum seekers flooded the border towns where they arrived and the housing systems in the places where they were bussed, including New York.
Guerra said he braves freezing temperatures and sleeps either outside or in a tent yards from where he plans to hand himself in to US Border Patrol agents after Title 42 ends.
Asylum-seeking migrants, mostly from Venezuela, some deported to Mexico from the US under Title 42 and others who have not yet crossed the border under the new immigration policy, camp on the riverbank of the Rio Grande River in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Go to Nakamura for NY Post
At the southern border, up to 18,000 people could cross the border every day. Go to Nakamura for NY Post
An asylum-seeking migrant girl from Venezuela stands between tents in the camp on the banks of the Rio Grande. Go to Nakamura for NY Post
Asylum seekers overwhelmed the border towns where they arrived and the housing systems. Go to Nakamura for NY Post
“They are afraid that one of us will freeze to death,” Guerra explained, adding that a Mexican shelter offered to let the migrants sleep inside. “I didn’t want to go because I can’t risk leaving here and maybe missing my chance to enter the US,” he added.
U.S. Border Patrol uses Title 42 to deport about 40% of the immigrants they encounter at the U.S. southern border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“Once Title 42 goes away, it just means we’re going to be releasing more people into the United States, which of course only encourages more people to come,” Brandon Judd, the president of the national Border Patrol Union, told The Post on Thursday.
One of the asylum seekers near the southern border. Go to Nakamura for NY Post
Judd worries that smuggling organizations in Mexico and other Latin American countries are rushing to the upcoming deadline to advertise their services to vulnerable immigrants who dream of making a life in the US.
“No doubt they are already advertising in those countries and saying, ‘Title 42 is gone now; You can cross the border freely,'” Judd said.
President Biden’s administration has yet to announce an alternative to Title 42 to handle the large numbers arriving at the US-Mexico border — about 6,500 to 7,000 people a day, according to Judd.
Asylum-seeking migrants are sleeping in and outside of tents near the border as they prepare for the end of Title 42. Go to the NY Post in Nakamura
El Paso, Texas, became the country’s new hotspot with the most cross-border commuters in October, according to Border Patrol statistics. It’s also preparing for the oversized crowds that the end of Title 42 could attract.
“They have been discussing in the city and county for the past year whether to repeal Title 42 and the plan for it, and I’m sure those discussions will continue,” El Paso Council Member and Mayor Pro tempore said Peter Svarzbein to The Post.
Since August, Texas’ sixth-largest city has spent nearly $9.5 million dealing with the refugee crisis that threatens to collapse the city’s resources — spending its own taxpayer dollars to feed, shelter and bust immigrants Bring New York City and Chicago.
El Paso is gearing up for the changes that could come with the end of Title 42. Go to Nakamura for NY Post
The White House has promised to fully compensate El Paso taxpayers but has only spent $2.2 million so far.
Unwilling to spend more of its own money, El Paso closed its migrant welcome center and bus program in October. When the federal government asked the city to reopen the center to deal with the new wave of immigration, El Paso leaders said they needed money from them first.
In the absence of Title 42, Svarzbein believes the Biden government, not El Paso, must come up with a solution.
Peter Svarzbein serves on District 1 of the El Paso City Council. Facebook/Peter Svarzbein
“The federal government must address the implementation of realistic and comprehensive immigration reform; that’s long overdue,” said Svarzbein.
“All of these things need to be addressed, and cans need to stop being thrown on the street.”