"May 1st I am declaring a state of emergency in our community and the reason why we're declaring a state of emergency is to make sure that we can stand up and be prepared for … May 11, May 12 to have public shelter and public housing and this is really temporary," Leeser said during a news conference held April 30.
The state of emergency will last for seven days. Then, it will go to the City Council for possible extension. The mayor added that it will be ratified and then moved on for a 30-day approval and he will have the opportunity and the ability to continue to do 30-day emergency sheltering or an emergency declaration for the city of El Paso.
El Paso Times reported that unconfirmed estimates of up to 35,000 asylum seekers are waiting in Juarez, Mexico, to cross the U.S. border once Title 42 expires. The city of El Paso already has hundreds of illegal immigrants camped out and sleeping along city streets, overburdening city resources. (Related: Biden's DHS predicts 390K migrants at the border every month after Title 42 ends.)
"We're starting to pick up some momentum as asylum-seekers are around the streets of downtown El Paso and other areas of our community and we need to make sure that we continue to protect not only the asylum-seekers but also our community," Leeser said.
At the start of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in March 2020, former President Donald Trump activated Title 42 to mitigate the spread of the virus by allowing U.S. border agents to immediately expel and prevent illegal aliens encountered along the border seeking asylum.
According to Spectrum News, Title 42 has been used more than 2.5 million times to expel migrants since March 2020, although that number includes people who repeatedly attempted to cross the border. The said declaration will provide El Paso with temporary shelters using federal funds.
In an article sponsored by the John Birch Society on The New American, writer David Kelly commented that as Leeser prepares his city for the expected influx of illegal aliens, it is still unknown how well prepared the U.S. Border Patrol will be for the thousands that are waiting to cross the border.
"The Biden administration has already proven its ineffectiveness at protecting our borders, and that is not likely to change, even with the new policies and measures in place," Kelly wrote.
As per the Department of Defense, Biden will send 1,500 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to make sure "issues are addressed" when the pandemic border restriction is lifted on May 11.
Pentagon spokesperson Brig Gen Pat Ryder said in a statement that the 90-day deployment of active-duty troops will supplement the work of the U.S. border patrol, but will not carry out law enforcement duties. The said force will be in addition to the ongoing deployment of about 2,500 national guard troops.
Biden has grappled with record numbers of migrants caught illegally crossing said border since he took office in 2021 and has been massively criticized for his soft border policies. Even his co-Democrats and immigration activists have lambasted him for gradually toughening his approach to border security.
Democrat Senator Bob Menendez, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, said Biden's decision to send troops was unacceptable. "Trying to score political points or intimidate migrants by sending the military to the border caters to the Republican party's xenophobic attacks on our asylum system," Menendez said in a statement.
The 1,500 troops could arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border by 10 May, Ryder said during a briefing. They will conduct ground-based monitoring, data entry and warehouse support to free up border agents and "fill critical capability gaps," he said.
When asked about the troop deployment in a news conference, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said the U.S. is a sovereign nation and that Mexico respects its decisions.
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called such deployments "a common practice."
Visit InvasionUSA.news for more news related to illegal migrants crossing the U.S. border.
Watch the video below where Mayor Oscar Leeser declares the state of emergency.
This video is from the SecureLife channel on Brighteon.com.
El Paso mayor: 20K illegals waiting to surge across southern border once Title 42 ends.