Mayorkas says Title 42 border situation is ‘very serious’ and ‘very difficult’
Anna Giaritelli
Video Embed
The mass migration event that is expected to overwhelm the entire southern border when Title 42 ends next week is “very serious,” according to the head of the Department of Homeland Security, and has already begun with the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who have crossed this week.
“The situation at the border is a very serious one, a very challenging one, and a very difficult one,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said during a press conference in Brownsville, Texas, Friday following a two-day tour of the region.
BORDER FALLING INTO CHAOS AHEAD OF TITLE 42 END DATE: ‘WE’RE IN TROUBLE’
Nearly 30,000 people have crossed the Rio Grande from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, in Mexico to get to U.S. soil in Brownsville over the past seven days, according to Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley Chief Gloria Chavez.
This sudden influx of mostly Venezuelans into Brownsville is unusual but not an anomaly. Other border cities, including El Paso, have seen sharp upticks in the number of illegal crossings and apprehensions, including some setting up makeshift camps on the U.S. side of the border as they wait to be taken into custody.
Mayorkas said these sudden rises are an indicator of what is to come May 11, when Title 42’s expiration means Border Patrol can no longer immediately turn away illegal immigrants.
“I think there is no question that this is going to be extremely challenging,” Mayorkas said. “I do not want to underestimate the severity of the challenge that we expect to encounter.”
Chavez said her staff responded quickly to the influx of immigrants that began in mid-April and stood up a series of tents near the border in an effort to keep people in shaded areas where agents could begin intake and processing while the immigrants awaited transportation to a nearby Border Patrol facility. The tent facility by the river has between 36 and 88 agents working at any one time, Chavez said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Mayorkas said his two-day visit to the Rio Grande Valley was meant to see how the government was prepared for next week and the days that follow.
Earlier on Friday, the DHS announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would make $332 million available to nongovernmental groups that help illegal immigrants who have been allowed to remain in the United States. The funding is directed to 35 nonprofit organizations and local governments that are not on the border but rather are in places across the country where immigrants will travel.
iFrame Object