The mayor of El Paso Oscar Leeser indicated that they receive 2,000 migrants daily and warned that the capacity of the shelters is overflowing.
The city of El Paso, Texas, is at a “breaking point” due to the massive arrival of migrants, warned Mayor Oscar Leeser. In a press conference, the authority indicated that the capacity of the shelters is overflowing.
He pointed out, as reported by KTSM channel, that the city receives 2,000 foreigners daily, mostly from Venezuela, seeking asylum.
The mayor said that currently the Customs and Border Protection Office is holding some 6,500 migrants in its facilities.
There are, in addition, another 2,000 people on the Mexican side waiting to cross the border checkpoint, he said.
The overflow led local authorities to open a new shelter northeast of the city, in addition to renting five buses that left Saturday for New York, Chicago and Denver.
Leeser pointed out that 1% of the migrants who arrive in El Paso do so to stay and that the intention of the great majority of them is to move to the big cities.
He also said that about 66% of those crossing the border are single men, 32% are families and 2% are unaccompanied minors.
Other officials said at the same press conference that the citizens boarded the buses voluntarily and were taken to the destination of their choice.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Friday sent buses to the Eagle Pass and El Paso borders to transfer migrants arriving from Mexico to sanctuary cities in other states.
So far the city has sent nearly 40,000 migrants to Washington, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, Los Angeles and other cities, he said. Abbott had previously deployed buses in Brownsville, Del Rio, Laredo and McAllen.