Some 20,000 migrants sheltered in the Mexican city of Juárez are preparing to cross the border into the United States, said Thursday the mayor of El Paso (Texas), Oscar Leeser, warning of overcrowding in the shelters.
El Paso hastened, according to the Associated Press (AP) news agency, to convert large buildings into shelters, while the Red Cross has 10,000.
“Let’s get ready for whatever comes,” Leeser said.
The US state of Texas said it would send 400 National Guard members to the border city after local authorities declared a state of emergency.
Migrants who are in the border areas between the United States and Mexico are staying in precarious shelters, as the restrictions that prevent people from requesting asylum in North American territory continue.
The United States government asked the Supreme Court to lift the limits before Christmas, a day after Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary order to maintain the restrictions imposed under the measures imposed by the health crisis.
Before John Roberts issued the order, the deadline expired today.
According to the AP, shortly after midnight, when Order 42 was supposed to be lifted, the situation was “calm” on the banks of the Rio Grande in El Paso, where the Texas National Guard was deployed.
Hundreds of migrants are massed by the barbed-wire barriers, but left after US officials told them to go to a gate where they were supposed to register, “in small groups.”
First Sergeant Suzanne Ringle said a woman who went into labor along the riverbank was assisted by border guards.
The same source said that many children are among the “crowd”.
In Juárez, next to the border with El Paso, hundreds of migrants line up waiting for the restrictions to be lifted to enter the United States.
For its part, in Tijuana, approximately 5,000 migrants are distributed in 30 precarious shelters, many of which are in rented rooms and apartments in the area.
The situation at the border remained calm despite the fact that the message was transmitted that there are no changes in the official orders on restrictions on entry to the United States.
The barriers built along the border with San Diego make the area a dangerous area for illegal border crossing.
Under the restrictive orders, officials have removed thousands of asylum seekers and have already turned away most people who applied for asylum at the border.
The legal argument has been the spread measures of Covid-19 under a public health rule called Order 42.
Still, US law, as well as international law, guarantees the right of applicants to apply for asylum.
There are currently more than 23,000 US agents along the border, according to data provided by the White House.
For the Biden Administration, according to the Associated Press, the solution to the problem cannot be the indefinite extension of the public health measures (SARS CoV-2) having requested that the Supreme Court change the restrictions until next December 27.
Source: TSF
