Title 42 ends: Aid groups expected to handle migrants, flights from Sunport
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Migrants are going from shelters in Las Cruces to the Albuquerque International Sunport, and then to wherever their temporary homes in the U.S. may be. The Sunport is expecting a busload of migrants on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
“Congress and the Senate need to agree to disagree and then learn to compromise. And compromise because this is not a border issue, it’s an issue that affects all of the U.S.”
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser
In El Paso, everyone from the city to the federal government to the service organizations like Sacred Heart Church are expecting a rush of thousands of migrants. But no one is quite sure when it will happen, due to the chaos of the new border rules.
Andres, a Colombian with a group of maybe three dozen, says, though, that he arrived on U.S. soil under Title 42, in time to avoid the penalties that now come with trying to enter illegally.
Border Patrol said the group will be picked up, but it’s not clear if they’ll get a chance at asylum. Those who did get in, don’t go anywhere without processing papers – that keep them from having to make a horrific trip another time.
Andres’ court appointment is four years away – a problem noted by El Paso’s mayor in a Friday news conference.
“We need a lot more immigration judges, and those judges that can really bring ’em quicker than four or five years,” Mayor Oscar Leeser said. “Also, I’d like to see there be a permit to work and be able to support their family.”
Migrants are going from shelters in Las Cruces to the Albuquerque International Sunport, and then to wherever their temporary homes in the U.S. may be.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration says they are standing by.
In many ways, Title 42 was a one-stop shop for turning people around at the border. In some cases, it reportedly happened in even just 10 minutes. The Biden administration still plans to limit the number of people crossing into the U.S., but how all the new policies fit together – if they fit together – is an open question.
The El Paso Times reported Friday morning that one of the key allies in the plan, the president of Guatemala, hasn’t even been able to reach the White House.