May 10 (UPI) — As the pandemic-era immigration policy Title 42 is set to expire Thursday, a number of U.S. cities, including El Paso and Chicago, are preparing for an influx of migrants.
Border officials are predicting as many as 10,000 border crossings every day once Title 42 ends.
In El Paso, Texas, immigration authorities on Tuesday began a “targeted enforcement operation” to apprehend migrants without documented status, according to the El Paso Times.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is leading the operation and will process migrants for expulsion under Title 42 or place them in Title 8 removal proceedings one week after El Paso declared a state of emergency to keep residents and asylum-seekers safe.
Approximately 2,500 migrants have sought refuge around the Sacred Heart Church and Opportunity Center shelters, with many sleeping on sidewalks.
“As we have said repeatedly, individuals who do not have a lawful basis to remain will be removed,” said Acting Commissioner Troy Miller in a statement. “Individuals should not listen to the lies of smugglers and instead use lawful pathways to protection.”
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden spoke with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico to increase cooperation between the United States and Mexico in anticipation of unprecedented migration in the region.
The Biden administration has said it plans to increase deportations once Title 42 is lifted Thursday. The administration said anyone who does not use one of the available pathways to enter the country legally could be barred from requesting asylum in the future.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to bus more migrants north to other cities, as he did last year, a source familiar with the process told CNN.
The state’s Division of Emergency Management spokesman Alecia Collins confirmed Florida had “selected multiple vendors based on their capabilities to carry out the program,” according to a statement.
Last September, Florida chartered flights to fly some 50 migrants to Massachusetts’ Martha’s Vineyard. DeSantis, a Republican, confirmed the relocation of migrants to the Democrat-led state was part of his program “to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also bused migrants and asylum seekers out of state last year to Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., to protest the Biden administration’s border policies.
On Tuesday, outgoing Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot issued an emergency declaration to deal with the expected surge of new migrants, saying, “we’ve reached a breaking point.” Lightfoot told reporters, “We are running out of spaces.”
The declaration gives Lightfoot “the authority to request the Governor of the State of Illinois to mobilize the National Guard to provide staffing and logistical support to address this emergency in the city of Chicago.”
Lightfoot accused Abbott of manufacturing the migrant crisis “for cynical political purposes,” saying the Texas governor is “unable to see the humanity” of the people he buses north to cities such as Chicago.
“This crisis is not only exhausting our city’s resources. But it’s flat-out dangerous for the individuals and families who have been wrapped up in this political stunt,” Lightfoot said.
“Sadly, we don’t expect the buses to stop arriving anytime soon.”
