Large Tent Set Up at Border to Prevent Title 42 From Ending Today

EL PASO, Texas — In the middle of the West Texas desert, a giant tent — bigger than a football field — is being thrown up by the US Border Patrol as El Paso prepares for a human tidal wave to cross the border with Mexico as soon as the Title 42 health policy comes to an end.

The makeshift facility northeast of downtown will serve as an overflow processing center when Title 42 expires — which could happen as soon as this week, depending on whether the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the Biden administration from 19 Republican-led states who want to keep the policy in place.

The Border Patrol already has a Central Processing Center in El Paso, but it will not be able to meet the demand post-Title 42 – when as many as 5,000 migrants per day are anticipated to enter the city.

“It’s still going to get worse before it even gets better, and that’s what we’re preparing for,” El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser Friday, “That’s what I call the unknown.” 

“As we know [Border Patrol’s] CPC, central processing center, has a capacity of 1,400; we know that their breaking point is 5,000,” El Paso Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino said at a public meeting the same day. “With this surge, they know that they will not be able to hold it.”

A facility to house and process migrants built by U.S. Customs and Border Protection is visible near US-54 – and is larger than a football field.New York Post REUTERS

El Paso officials previously stated that they have received as many as 20,000 migrants are waiting in MexicoIt is a matter of wishing.