El Paso announces new shelter amid migrant surge

Officials in El Paso, Texas, have announced plans to open a new shelter to house migrants as the city struggles to accommodate the massive surge of migrants entering its border. 

During a news conference Saturday, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser (D) said that the city is opening an additional shelter that can hold roughly 400 people, as officials said that around 6,500 migrants are currently seeking shelter in the city. 

“The city of El Paso only has so many resources, and we have come to … a breaking point right now, and so we have to look at different resources,” Leeser said. 

“So, this is something that we’ve been prepared for, but these numbers have really escalated a lot quicker than we ever anticipated,” Leeser added.

El Paso officials said that each day, more than 2,000 migrants enter the U.S. border seeking asylum, as the city chartered five buses to send migrants to numerous northern U.S. cities including New York City, Denver, and Chicago, according to Axios. 

The Biden administration last week said it will deploy an additional 800 troops to the border in an effort to help out with the latest migration surge, which increased in the last two months following the end of Title 42. 

The latest group of troop personnel will focus on “logistics and other functions at the border to allow more Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents and officers to return to their core mission and responsibilities.” The administration also announced the extension of the Temporary Protective Status to nearly half a million Venezuelans who currently live in the U.S.