Texas city braces for flood of border crossers when Title 42 ends in May

“Logistically, it will be a nightmare,” said Mayor Javier Villalobos of McAllen, Texas, the largest city in the sector that is typically the epicenter of Southwest border crossings, the Rio Grande Valley. Most immigrants apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley who are allowed into the U.S. to make asylum claims pass through McAllen to board buses or flights to the cities where they will make their cases in court. Under Covid restrictions known as Title 42, however, fewer than half have made it to McAllen, with the majority being turned back into Mexico at the border.

In March, more than 7,000 migrants crossed the border per day on average, sending overall border crossings past 220,000, the most in more than two decades. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that when Title 42 lifts, those numbers could climb to 12,000 to 18,000 crossers per day…

Villalobos and his staff have been in touch with the White House, he said, about plans to feed, transport and temporarily shelter what could be thousands of migrants per day crossing through the area.

Villalobos’ message is simple: “If they need our help, then we need the funding. We are not in the business of immigration. We do not budget for immigration.”