El Paso City Manager Warns Lifting Title 42 Will Cause Same Surge as Afghan Refugee Surge

During an interview with NPR on Sunday aired on Monday’s “Morning Edition,” El Paso, TX City Manager Tommy Gonzalez stated if Title 42 is lifted, things will be the same “in terms of numbers” as the surge of Afghan refugees that came into the city.

Co-host A Martinez asked, “Title 42 is expected to lift on Wednesday. How much of what you’re doing now is getting ready for Wednesday or the possibility of what will happen after Wednesday?”

Gonzalez responded, “What we’ve been doing is really pressing our local, state, and federal officials that we just need more resources. I know that this issue is very sensitive, on a lot of different fronts. But we were just focusing on the fact that we need more resources because when Title 42 does lift, we need to have the means for food, processing, and being able to shelter and/or have holding areas in order for us to then get them to buses — if that’s going to be their mode of transportation — or getting them to the airport. We have asked the federal government — to all of the federal officials that we have spoken to, especially the appointed officials — that if they could open up federal facilities like Fort Bliss. I mean, this is no different, we told them, than — in terms of numbers — than the Afghani situation that happened not too long ago. And Fort Bliss was opened up for that, because we’re talking about thousands upon thousands of people that are crossing daily now.”

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