El Paso's Democratic mayor declared a state of emergency on Saturday—despite President Joe Biden's administration's reported pleas not to—over an anticipated influx of migrants into the Texas border city as Title 42 is set to expire on December 21.
The Texan city has recently been overwhelmed with the number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border into its streets. It's stretching its ability to care for asylum seekers and process their requests and could turn into a humanitarian disaster should conditions worsen in coming weeks.
On Sunday, December 11, around 1,500 migrants—mainly from Nicaragua—reportedly crossed the Rio Grande after nightfall to reach El Paso, where they waited to be processed by authorities, in one of the largest single crossings in recent years in West Texas.
Despite the support shown by many residents, who reached out to help migrants in need—assisting with the booking of plane and bus tickets, and providing coats and blankets for those spending the night outside—the community has reported being put under significant strain as current resources don't allow for them to face the emergency.
The sight of migrants sleeping outdoors in downtown El Paso while temperatures dropped below freezing—and ahead of the state being hit by an arctic blast over Christmas—is what led a previously reluctant Oscar Leeser to declare a state of emergency in the city.
"That's not the way we want to treat people," Leeser said during a news conference Saturday evening, according to the El Paso Times.
As reported by the newspaper, the mayor had long resisted issuing a state of emergency, partly in response to the Biden administration's efforts to avoid such a high-profile move. It could stoke the flame of criticism from Republicans toward the president's border policy.
The Biden administration has reportedly tried to discourage Leeser from declaring a state of emergency in El Paso before, according to an article published in mid-October by the New York Post.
According to the newspaper, at least three of El Paso City Council's eight members urged Leeser to declare a state of emergency in the city in October. But the mayor said he had received directions from the Biden administration asking him not to, council member Claudia Rodriguez told the New York Post.
According to what Rodriguez told the newspaper, Leeser then reassured the city council that he would have called a state of emergency if things had gotten worse.
In response to the New York Post's reporting, Leeser said he didn't "bow to pressure from any side" and took decisions based on "the best interest of the citizens of El Paso."
But the mayor didn't deny receiving pressure from Democrats not to declare a state of emergency. In late September, Leeser said that the Biden administration had urged him not to issue an emergency declaration: "The White House has asked, at this point, for us not to do that and they'll continue to work with us and continue to give us [...] money through [the] Federal Emergency Management Agency."
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment.
The state of emergency, issued within 72 hours of Title 42 expiring, would allow the city to access additional resources to face what the mayor expects to be an increased number of migrant crossings into El Paso.
"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 during the Saturday press conference.
"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."
In the past two years, Title 42 has allowed the U.S. to rapidly expel migrants at its land borders as a necessary measure to protect Americans from a potential health threat of a COVID outbreak. Under the measure, which was not applied to children traveling alone, but involved adults traveling solo and families, hundreds of thousands of migrants were prevented from seeking asylum within U.S. territory.
As Title 42 is set to come to an end on Wednesday, many expect the number of border crossings to suddenly boom, challenging the capacity of cities like El Paso to handle the influx of migrants.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs ... Read more
