Migrant Camp in Mexico Grows to 2200 Just South of Texas Border

A migrant camp in Mexico swelled in population to approximately 2,200 over the course of the past year. The tent city is situated immediately south of the Texas border.

Migrants waiting for an opportunity to cross international bridges to seek asylum are housed in a tent encampment in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, according to a report by ABC News.  Confusing and often-changing immigration policies of the Biden Administration caused the camp to swell to approximately 2,200.

“We’re exposed to a lot of danger here — like the cartels, for example,” Honduran migrant Jessica Leon told ABC. “Here, anyone can come in at any time. We’re extremely vulnerable to many dangers.”

Some of the confusion arises from the inconsistent application of the Title 42 coronavirus protection protocol created in 2020 by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention. The act allows Border Patrol officials to quickly expel migrants who illegally cross the border from Mexico.

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz discussed the possible impact of Title 42 being eliminated at some point in the future.

“We know it’s not going to last forever as the health pandemic starts to wane… that we may not have Title 42 forever,” Chief Ortiz told ABC News. “So we have to make adjustments to be able to prepare for that. And so what I’m doing is making sure I have processing coordinators that can fulfill some of those duties and responsibilities and then making sure our agents are safe.”

COVID-19 has greatly impacted Border Patrol agents, especially in the last year. Ortiz explained he currently has 200-300 agents in quarantine after being exposed to the virus. That number has been as his as 3,000, he explained.

In the Reynosa migrant camp, non-profits set up a school for children as their families await the opportunity to cross the border into Texas. Sidewalk School director Felicia Rangel-Samponaro told ABC the encampment has grown every day under the Biden Administration.

“What you’re seeing is hope that Biden takes away Title 42, which he can at any second if he chooses to,” Rangel-Sampanaro explained. Eliminating the use of Title 42 would give the migrants a chance to make a claim of asylum, he said.