As a line of people seeking entry into the U.S. grows at the border south of San Diego, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials are finding ways to accommodate what is expected to be a surge of asylum-seeking migrants.
Hundreds have been waiting for days between two border fences at the San Ysidro Port of Entry seeking their turn to ask for asylum. Some have faced injuries, dehydration and hunger. Activists and supporters have been aiding migrants with food, water and other necessities. One woman from San Diego on Tuesday brought about 80 burgers and burritos to the border. It wasn't enough for the hundreds of migrants gathered so they distributed the food to children only.
All this comes as the U.S. is preparing for the end of a policy linked to the coronavirus pandemic that allowed it to quickly expel many migrants, and it spotlights concerns about whether the end of the immigration limits under Title 42 of a 1944 public health law will mean even more migrants trying to cross the southern border.
Border patrol officers were distributing green bracelets to migrants who have camped between the two fences to try to understand who arrived first as the crowd grows by the hundreds. People sit in lines but it is unclear if there is any reason to do so.
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One woman from Afghanistan told border patrol agents Tuesday her eight-month-old baby was vomiting and wouldn't eat. They were both taken from the camp and video from the scene showed them being placed in an ambulance but it was unclear if they were treated at the scene or transported to a medical center.
San Diego Fire-Rescue crews were staging at the border as well in case of any emergencies and there were protocols in place to respond to possible increases in patients, a spokesperson said.
Politics
San Diego's ambulance provider, Falck, was also working with hospitals to stage more ambulances at the border, in case of any needs -- and there were plenty of needs. A spokesperson for the agency said they've seen a 30% increase in calls to the border near San Ysidro from April to May. On Monday alone, Falck responded to 25 patients involved in border-related incidents, which is almost double a typical day. The calls range from chest pain to difficulty breathing and falls from the border fence.
The first hundreds of U.S. troops began arriving at the border on Tuesday as well to help with the increase of migrants. The military members are not expected to have any contact with migrants but will instead be used to monitor the situation as Title 42 ends. About 550 have already been sent to the border with Mexico and another 900 are expected by the end of the month.
Brayan Arciniega and his wife arrived at the border near San Ysidro on Sunday from a small town in Columbia where they have faced murder threats and violence. His wife was taken into border patrol custody shortly after they arrived. While waiting, he has received granola bars, drinks and toilet paper and have created a makeshift shelter out of trash bags. Arciniega has been waiting days to begin the asylum-seeking process and doesn't have any idea of how much longer he and others will have to wait in the elements.
CBP has set up a temporary pop-up tent near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry that will act as an overflow facility to house about 500 people a day for immigration processing. CBP said in January the area will mostly support border patrol stations in the Texas region.
“We’ve been preparing for quite some time and we are ready. What we are expecting is indeed a surge. And what we are doing is planning for different levels of a surge,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last week during a visit to southern Texas. But he also stressed that the situation at the border is “extremely challenging.”
Officials in President Joe Biden's administration say they have been preparing for well over a year for the end of Title 42. The strategy has hinged on providing more legal pathways for migrants to get to the U.S. without risking the perilous journey to the border. That includes things like setting up centers in foreign countries where migrants can apply to emigrate as well as a humanitarian parole process already in place with 30,000 slots a month for people from four countries to come to the U.S. Starting May 12 they're expanding appointments available through the CBP One app Marquez tried to use. When it was launched many migrants and advocates criticized the app, saying it had technological problems and there simply weren't enough appointments.
The strategy is also heavy on consequences. The U.S. is proposing a rule that would severely limit asylum to migrants who first travel through another country, quickly screening migrants seeking asylum at the border and deporting those deemed not qualified, and a five-year ban on reentry for those deported.
A lot of these consequences have been met with harsh criticism by immigrants' rights groups who have gone so far as to compare the policies to then-President Donald Trump's and say the right to apply for asylum on U.S. soil is sacrosanct. Much of the Biden administration strategy is also facing legal peril in the coming weeks. The proposed rule limiting asylum is almost certain to be the subject of lawsuits. And Republican-leaning states want to stop the Democratic administration's use of humanitarian parole on such a large scale.
The administration has also been increasing Immigration and Customs Enforcement flights to remove people from the country — flights like one that took off recently from an airport in Harlingen, Texas. Shortly after dawn three buses pulled up next to a plane. One by one migrants got out of the bus. They were wearing handcuffs and leg restraints and surgical masks. First they were patted down for contraband and then slowly walked up the stairs to the plane. Altogether 133 migrants were sent back to their home country of Guatemala.
But those flights only work if countries accept them. Venezuela does not. And Colombia says it's suspending deportation flights due to “cruel and degrading” treatment of migrants.
Administration officials say they're using technology to speed up the processing of migrants who cross the border without documentation and using mobile processing, so they can process migrants while they're being transported by bus or van, for example. They've pushed to digitize documents that at one time were filled out by hand by Border Patrol. And they've beefed up the hiring of contractors so agents can remain in the field.
But critics have slammed the administration, saying it's not doing enough. Kristen Sinema, an independent U.S. senator from Arizona, said on CBS' “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the administration wasn't communicating with local officials about things like what type of surge to expect or whether buses would be available to transport migrants. And she said a decision to send 1,500 military troops to the border came too late.
In communities that border Mexico, officials and community groups that care for newly arrived migrants are anxious about what the end of Title 42 means. Sister Norma Pimentel runs Catholic Charities' Humanitarian Respite Center, the largest shelter in South Texas.
The shelter functions mainly as a resource center where migrants can purchase tickets, make calls, eat and rest before traveling to their next destination, where they often have family or other contacts. But, Pimentel said, many of the Venezuelans in this latest surge don’t have connections in the U.S., making it harder for them to move to the next destination. “That becomes a problem for us,” she said.
The federal government gives money to communities to help them deal with the increases in migrants. On Friday the administration announced that $332 million had been disbursed to 35 local governments and service organizations. Most goes to communities close to the border “due to the urgencies they are confronting,” but cities far from the border also get funds.
In the Texas border city of El Paso, about 2,200 migrants are currently camped or living on the streets a few blocks from major ports of entry that connect El Paso with the Mexican city of Juárez. The city is prepared to open up shelters next week if needed at two vacant school buildings and a civic center.
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser estimated that roughly 10,000 to 12,000 migrants are in Juárez waiting to cross, as local officials prepare for the “unknown.” Leeser said migrants are flocking to the border under false assumptions that it will be easier to gain entry to the U.S. when Title 42 goes away, but for many there could be tougher consequences.
It's a message federal officials have been repeating. But they're competing against a powerful human smuggling network that facilitates northern migration and the desperation of migrants who feel they have no other option.
At the Brownsville port of entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say they've run drills to prepare in case there’s a surge of migrants trying to cross and they need to close the bridge. Pedestrians cross from Matamoros using a covered walkway that can only accommodate a few people across. Worried about the impact of long lines of migrants coming to the port after May 11 without an appointment and impacting port operations, they're calling on people to schedule appointments through CBP One.
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Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas. Associated Press writer Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, N.M., contributed to this report.
