According to El Paso city officials, the Biden administration should consider using military bases to house illegal aliens to alleviate a strain on local resources ahead of the end of the public health expulsion order Title 42, which expires December 21.
About 2,500 illegal aliens cross into El Paso every day, according to Customs and Border Protection. There is an overwhelming number of people in the city, and the city lacks the ability to provide for them. As a result, many migrants are forced to sleep on the streets.
The El Paso deputy city manager Mario D’Agostino thinks the military could house illegal aliens on bases like they did with Afghan refugees after the U.S. left Afghanistan. “What we have been saying to all of our federal partners is that this Title 42 going away, with the numbers we’re seeing today, is a true emergency for the community,” D’Agostino said. “It’s a federal crisis that’s happening on the border of El Paso. With that, they’re gonna need to do some federal operation, maybe like what we saw with the Afghans.”
El Paso is experiencing a true border crisis right now https://t.co/yFe8SlFKtA
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 14, 2022
Due to the high number of illegal crossings, local homeless shelters are already overcrowded. As Title 42 fades away, the number of homeless people will go way beyond the already record-breaking 2,500 a day, warned John Martin of the Opportunity Center for the Homeless.
Despite the public record of requests for help in the media, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Devin T. Robinson told reporters that there had been no request from the Department of Homeland Security for such support. He added, “As always, we stand ready to receive and consider requests for support.”
The city is expected to spend millions more with its funds and hopes to be reimbursed by the federal government. The city of El Paso is already waiting for a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursement after spending more than $5 million on illegal aliens. They expect to spend at least $4.7 million on border crossings once Title 42 expires.
