A CNN reporter expressed shock at the overwhelming number of illegal immigrants in El Paso, Texas. The city, along with several others across the country, grapples with an unprecedented influx of illegal migrants.
Reporter Rosa Flores, speaking from a church in El Paso, struggled to articulate what she was witnessing as CNN’s camera panned across a sidewalk outside a church where dozens of migrants appeared to be camping out.
“It’s difficult to describe, Jim, with words … the magnitude of the number of individuals,” reporter Flores said.
“A lot of the individuals you see are males, adult males. A lot of the women with children are actually in shelters, in a network of shelters throughout El Paso,” the reporter said, indicating the large numbers of illegal immigrants viewed on the streets is small percentage of the total number within the city.
Flores appeared to be perplexed as she said, “Process this with me. Title 42 allows immigration agents to simply return migrants back to Mexico so the obvious question if you look around is then why are there so many migrants if the federal government is actually implementing this Title 42?”
Great question. The bigger question is why has it taken CNN so long to report on the problem and why hasn’t the Biden Administration done anything effective to stop the problem?
Flores suggested the reason these people are being allowed to stay is due to the “thousands of migrants, nearly 40,000, are in at least four northern Mexican cities and frustration is boiling over.”
What exactly is going to happen when all of those people cross the border in just a few days?
Democratic mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency in El Paso this week ahead of the May 11 end of Title 42, a pandemic-era rule that allowed agents to turn migrants away at the border.
Mayor Leeser is not waiting around to see what will happen. “We are getting prepared now for what we call the unknown,” he said.
The Biden administration plans to deploy troops to assist with administrative duties at the border when Title 42 expires.
This heightened media coverage of the border crisis coincides with increasing criticism from Democratic politicians about the struggles in their cities.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) condemned Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) of essentially being a racist targeting “black run cities.”
“This weekend, we learned that Governor Abbott is once again deciding to play politics with people’s lives by resuming the busing of asylum seekers to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, and Washington, D.C.,” Adams said Monday.
“It is also impossible to ignore the fact that Abbott is now targeting five cities run by Black mayors. Put plainly, Abbott is using this crisis to hurt Black-run cities.”
Adams is not the only one complaining. Chicago’s outgoing mayor, Lori Lightfoot (D), stated that her city is “tapped out” of resources for migrants.
In contrast, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre falsely claimed on Monday that illegal immigration has decreased “by more than 90 percent.” This assertion reflects similar statements regarding “improved” border security from President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The truth is that illegal immigration reached a record high of 2.76 million encounters in 2022 and it would seem that number is going to rise dramatically with the end of Title 42 next week.