By Luis De Jesus
24 Sep 2023, 00:04 AM EDT
The city of El Paso, in Texas, is at a “breaking point” due to the massive arrival of migrants, warned Mayor Oscar Leeser. In a press conference, the authority indicated that the capacity of the shelters is overwhelmed.
He pointed out, according to the KTSM channel, that the city receives 2,000 foreigners daily, mostly from Venezuela, seeking asylum.
The mayor said that currently the Customs and Border Protection offices hold about 6,500 migrants within their facilities.
There are also another 2,000 people on the Mexican side waiting to cross the border checkpoint, he indicated.
The overflow led local authorities to open a new shelter in the northeast of the city, in addition to renting five buses that left this Saturday for New York, Chicago and Denver.
Leeser pointed out that 1% of the migrants who arrive in El Paso do so to stay and that the intention of the vast majority of them is to move to big cities.
He also stated that about 66% of those who cross the border are single men, 32% are families and 2% are unaccompanied minors.
Other officials said at the same press conference that citizens boarded the buses voluntarily and were taken to the destination of their choice.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent buses to the Eagle Pass and El Paso borders on Friday to transport migrants arriving from Mexico to sanctuary cities in other states.
Until then, the city has sent almost 40,000 migrants to Washington, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, Los Angeles and other cities, he said. Previously, Abbott had deployed buses in Brownsville, Del Rio, Laredo and McAllen.
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