A relentless surge of immigrants crossing the border into El Paso, Texas, is threatening to overwhelm its airport — with stranded migrants encamped on the ground for the reason that city shuttered a welcome center and stopped bussing them to places like Recent York City.
After El Paso ended its charter bus program — which took almost 11,000 immigrants to the Big Apple over two months — migrants crossings at Texas’ biggest border city are increasingly depending on the airport or business buses to get out of town.
“Our airport right away is admittedly bad,” said El Paso City Council member Claudia Rodriguez. “Some persons are sleeping on the airport.”
“They’re {immigrants} being released there by the Border Patrol. Principally, they’re … handling it at this point,” she lamented, adding most El Paso residents are unaware of the pileup.
El Paso International Airport aviation director Sam Rodriguez acknowledged the troubling numbers of migrants stuck at the power.
“We’ve actually seen a rise of parents on the airport especially on the overnights here within the last couple of days,” Rodriguez told The Post last week. “It’s a matter of the quantity (that) continues to come back through.”
Before the town shuttered its migrant welcome center and bussing program in late October, immigrants could wait for his or her flight at the middle — or the town would put them up in a hotel. Now that those options are ended, as many as 130 persons are packing into a delegated area on the airport.
“It’s all going to bottle up on the El Paso airport, and with the pandemic, the airlines reduced their capability,” said El Paso immigrant advocate Ruben Garcia.
The Annunciation House charity, where Garcia is director, has began bussing immigrants to Denver, partly in order that they can fly out of Denver’s airport to their final destination and alleviate demand and crowding at El Paso’s travel hub.
Since Sept. 30, El Paso’s airport began establishing cots in a delegated area for immigrants whose flights were early within the morning, and had a wait of lower than 12 hours.
However the growing variety of migrants using the airport as a makeshift shelter is beginning to alarm residents — including one city council member who was on the airport over the weekend.
“There have been also a variety of those who appeared to be unfolded throughout the form of lobby area where the big ELP (sign) is,” said City Council Member Peter Svarzbein at a Nov. 7 public meeting Monday. “I’m concerned more about their safety and the community.”
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser didn’t reply to The Post’s request for comment. He has previously resisted pressure from three city council members to declare a state of emergency over the border. The White House had asked the mayor to not declare a state of emergency, the Post revealed last month — but Leeser maintains his decision wasn’t based on pressure from the Biden administration.
City officials said last week the Border Patrol asked El Paso to re-open a migrant welcome center to avoid releasing immigrants into the streets — because the agency was forced to do due to the increasing variety of arrivals on the border.
But the town declined, citing expenditures of near $9 million on the border crisis — money the White House promised to reimburse but has yet to completely comply.
“I don’t even know if it’s being reported because unless you go to the airport, you’re not going to see it,” Rodriguez said of the troubling overcrowding.
A relentless surge of immigrants crossing the border into El Paso, Texas, is threatening to overwhelm its airport — with stranded migrants encamped on the ground for the reason that city shuttered a welcome center and stopped bussing them to places like Recent York City.
After El Paso ended its charter bus program — which took almost 11,000 immigrants to the Big Apple over two months — migrants crossings at Texas’ biggest border city are increasingly depending on the airport or business buses to get out of town.
“Our airport right away is admittedly bad,” said El Paso City Council member Claudia Rodriguez. “Some persons are sleeping on the airport.”
“They’re {immigrants} being released there by the Border Patrol. Principally, they’re … handling it at this point,” she lamented, adding most El Paso residents are unaware of the pileup.
El Paso International Airport aviation director Sam Rodriguez acknowledged the troubling numbers of migrants stuck at the power.
“We’ve actually seen a rise of parents on the airport especially on the overnights here within the last couple of days,” Rodriguez told The Post last week. “It’s a matter of the quantity (that) continues to come back through.”
Before the town shuttered its migrant welcome center and bussing program in late October, immigrants could wait for his or her flight at the middle — or the town would put them up in a hotel. Now that those options are ended, as many as 130 persons are packing into a delegated area on the airport.
“It’s all going to bottle up on the El Paso airport, and with the pandemic, the airlines reduced their capability,” said El Paso immigrant advocate Ruben Garcia.
The Annunciation House charity, where Garcia is director, has began bussing immigrants to Denver, partly in order that they can fly out of Denver’s airport to their final destination and alleviate demand and crowding at El Paso’s travel hub.
Since Sept. 30, El Paso’s airport began establishing cots in a delegated area for immigrants whose flights were early within the morning, and had a wait of lower than 12 hours.
However the growing variety of migrants using the airport as a makeshift shelter is beginning to alarm residents — including one city council member who was on the airport over the weekend.
“There have been also a variety of those who appeared to be unfolded throughout the form of lobby area where the big ELP (sign) is,” said City Council Member Peter Svarzbein at a Nov. 7 public meeting Monday. “I’m concerned more about their safety and the community.”
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser didn’t reply to The Post’s request for comment. He has previously resisted pressure from three city council members to declare a state of emergency over the border. The White House had asked the mayor to not declare a state of emergency, the Post revealed last month — but Leeser maintains his decision wasn’t based on pressure from the Biden administration.
City officials said last week the Border Patrol asked El Paso to re-open a migrant welcome center to avoid releasing immigrants into the streets — because the agency was forced to do due to the increasing variety of arrivals on the border.
But the town declined, citing expenditures of near $9 million on the border crisis — money the White House promised to reimburse but has yet to completely comply.
“I don’t even know if it’s being reported because unless you go to the airport, you’re not going to see it,” Rodriguez said of the troubling overcrowding.
