A video circulating online shows hundreds of illegal immigrants lined up in Texas as the Rio Grande Valley region sees a massive uptick in unlawful crossings ahead of the expiration of the federal government's Title 42 policy.
“A large majority of them are single adults,” Melugin wrote.
The flood of illegal immigrants comes just days before the Trump-era Title 42 policy is scheduled to end on May 11. Title 42 empowered the American government to automatically expel illegal immigrants due the pandemic and concerns over public health.
According to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants will potentially enter the United States when the policy officially ends.
“DHS and Border Patrol are warning there are an estimated 700,000 migrants in Mexico ready to rush the border when Title 42 is lifted on May 11th," she wrote in a May 5 tweet, adding that the Darien Gap in Panama has reported a more than 500 percent increase in migrations to the United States.
Troops at the Border
On May 2, the White House and Pentagon announced that the executive branch will raise the number of troops working along the border from 2,500 to 4,000. The additional 1,500 troops will serve in a limited capacity, carrying out tasks like transportation, tracking and surveillance, and data entry.However, troops will not be engaged in any law enforcement action. Instead, their presence will potentially allow Border Patrol agents to focus more on illegal border crossings.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called the decision a “publicity stunt” that will not stop the border crisis created by the Biden administration.
“President Biden wants to send troops to the border—not to secure it and enforce our immigration laws, but to process illegal immigrants faster," Cotton said.
Collin Rugg of Trending Politics said in a tweet that Texas has deployed its Tactical Border Force ahead of the end of Title 42.
The Texas National Guard is preparing Black Hawk helicopters and C-130 aircraft as it braces for an “invasion” on the southern border, Rugg said, adding that there are 15,000 people waiting to enter the country.
During an April 30 news conference, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said the city is “getting prepared now for what we call the unknown.”
“They’ve come in, really, with a false pretense that there will be open borders starting on May 11 and anyone that’s already in the United States will no longer be required to have proper documentation, and that is an untrue statement," Leeser said.
“We are not opening the borders. The borders are not open today, and they will not be open on May 12,” he said.
Unlike Title 42, the process of expelling an illegal immigrant takes longer under Title 8.