Border Towns Say the Crisis Is No Worse, But It Was Already Very Bad

Some towns along the border are saying the end of Title 42 has not brought a huge surge of illegal aliens crossing the border.

Could all the experts have been wrong? The answer is that the surge of illegals in their towns was already at crisis levels even before the end of Title 42. These border communities are saying they’re already unable to handle the crush of migrants attempting entry into the U.S.

McAllen, Texas, is a good example. The small city sits across the border from the Mexican city of Reynosa. “It’s not the numbers we initially expected, and we hope it keeps that way,” said McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos.

El Paso, another key Texas border town, has also seen few signs of a big surge.

CNN:

At the city’s border gate around noon on Friday, the scene was mostly empty except for a few arriving migrants. Just the day before, about 1,000 migrants were waiting to be processed in the afternoon, including some who bore wounds and injuries from their treacherous crossing journeys.

Leeser said El Paso has so far seen a “smooth transition” out of Title 42 but is still preparing for what the future may hold.

“We know that we still need to prepare for the unknown because we don’t know what’s going to happen next week and continue to happen day in and day out,” Lesser said.

Mexico Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the number of migrants in the border city of Ciudad Juarez was about 10,000 people, with about 5,500 counted in Matamoros – the same as earlier in the week. About 500 migrants gathered in Tijuana.

There’s no doubt that the Biden administration’s jawboning has worked to some extent. Warnings from DHS Secretary Mayorkas and from the CBP about the border not being open and rules about third-country transiting — where an asylum seeker needs to ask for asylum in the first country he transits before coming to the U.S. — may have discouraged some people.

In the days prior to the lifting of Title 42, 10,000 people a day were crossing the border into the U.S. That number hasn’t changed, and so far, it appears to be a number that most border towns can handle.

But clearly, the border is not in good hands with Mayorkas telling illegal aliens there are jobs to be had in the U.S.

WATCH: Mayorkas answers a very important question with a question

REPORTER: "Do you have a taxpayer cost [on illegal immigration]

MAYORKAS: "Let me turn that question around…Since there are businesses around this country desperate for workers…desperate workers in foreign… pic.twitter.com/7MxRkSvpCS

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 11, 2023

Yikes.

It’s been less than two days without Title 42. Whatever disinformation was circulating about U.S. policy will eventually disappear, and people will be emboldened to cross the border again.

The crisis is by no means past. We just dodged a bullet in the midst of it.