A state of panic developing near the U.S.-Mexico border amid 90,000 migrants crossing over in the last 10 days.
Some fear it’s just a preview of what’s to come when Title 42 ends, on May 11th.
The Biden Administration is now scrambling to launch additional processing centers in Central and South America.
The White House is also deploying 1,500 troops to maintain order at the border.
Cities across the country are running out of resources and running out of time.
In El Paso, migrants are turning to the only place they feel safe, the sidewalk outside of Sacred Heart Church.
“For now, it takes staying here until we can fix our papers, our documents, to be able to travel to our destination,” One Migrant said through a translator. “It could be two, three days a week or more.”
But staying outside of the church isn’t the easiest thing for many migrants who are trying to fulfill requirements that would allow them entry.
“It’s difficult to live on the street because it’s very cold,” another migrant said. “Right now we can’t even sleep because it is too hot. We sleep on the street, on the floor.”
Getting to the church was no easy task.
“We are confronted by a lot of obstacles because most of us have tried to do things legally,” said another migrant. “But the CBP One App is not working, so some have opted to pass through the holes.”
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has weighed in on the matter, calling for a solution that’s well thought out and humane.
“No combination of legal pathways or harsh enforcement measures will suffice to meet the complex challenge of forced migration facing our country and hemisphere,” Bishop Mark Seitz, leader of the USCCB, said in a statement. “Only through a long-term commitment to addressing root causes and promoting integral human development throughout the Americas, combined with an overhaul of our immigration system, will we be able to achieve the conditions necessary to sustainably reduce irregular migration.”