Posted on 05/11/23
| News Source: CBS News
An estimated 60,000 migrants are waiting near the U.S.-Mexico border hours before the Biden administration is set to end the Title 42 pandemic-era rule that has allowed authorities to expel those entering the country unlawfully, a top U.S. official told CBS News on Thursday.
Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said his agency is preparing for some of the tens of thousands of migrants currently on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border to try to cross into the U.S. once Title 42 expires on Thursday at 11:59 p.m. ET.
"Upwards of 60,000 migrants we project are staging in and around the immediate border area," Ortiz said in an interview in El Paso. "So we're focused on ensuring that we're doing everything we can to allocate resources to address those flows."
In the lead-up to the end of Title 42, triggered by the expiration of the national COVID-19 public health emergency, border officials have already seen a spike in migration, recording around 10,000 daily apprehensions on some days this week.
As of Thursday, nearly 25,000 migrants were in Border Patrol holding facilities and tents, Ortiz said, despite the agency only having capacity on paper to hold several thousand individuals.
Ortiz said Border Patrol is working to reduce overcrowding in its holding facilities by rapidly releasing some migrants without court dates.
"We are over capacity in several of the sectors," Ortiz said. "And so we're working closely with our NGO partners, our communities to make sure that we release those migrants after they've been vetted and cleared, and they pose no significant threat to the community."