EXCLUSIVE: El Paso residents feel the Christmas Spirit: Residents buy migrants blankets, shoes and toys just days before Christmas as streets fill up despite freezing-cold nights
- DailyMail.com takes a look at the holiday charity visible in the border town of El Paso, Texas as migrants flood the border in increasingly cold temperatures
- Local residents extended warmth in the form of shelters, clothing, food, toys for tots and rides to and from town as the city continued to deal with overcrowding
- El Paso has struggled to keep up with the number of illegal migrants flooding over its border
El Paso locals are rallying together to support the influx of thousands of migrants coming across the border just days before Christmas – some are even opening their homes to asylum seekers with children.
Residents in the small border town have been quick to purchase blankets, jackets, shoes and even toys for the children left sheltering on the streets as temperatures plummet.
Thousands of asylum-seekers have been lining up at the border, waiting to get into the country to be processed by border control as 400 members of the National Guard are positioned along the Rio Grande.
Two volunteers have opened their own homes to women with young children who are sleeping on the streets despite shelters being open.
Newly arrived illegal migrants sleep on the cold streets of El Paso Texas outside the city’s Greyhound station
Karina and Oscar, both 29, decided to open their own properties to migrants as well as driving them back to town, in order to ensure they catch buses elsewhere
Karina and Oscar, both 29, decided to open their own properties to migrants as well as driving them back to town, in order to ensure they catch buses elsewhere.
Speaking to DailyMail.com Oscar said: ‘As volunteers we do it for families, with kids or elderly people that are more vulnerable.
‘We also take people to as many shelters as we can, and we are involved with the New Feminist group which is currently setting up a shelter which isn’t open yet.
‘We just think it’s important to keep them out of the cold, and have been involved in helping since 2018.
‘Once they see Karina, who volunteers with me, they are a lot more comfortable to get in the car with us once they realize its not me.
‘They have been through a lot so it is understandable as to why they are more hesitant, but we bring them back once they have had a hot meal and a warm bed to make sure they catch their buses.’
Many store owners in the city say that while their businesses haven’t been directly impacted by the massive influx. Some have been asked by migrants for jobs despite having no papers.
Gustava Tavera owns one of the many bustling stores on South El Paso St, which is just yards away from the very busy official port of entry into the US from Mexico.
The 56-year-old has run his store, Tee Box, for 18 years and said that he has seen the numbers of migrants both rise and fall in that time.
He told DailyMail.com: ‘I have seen people coming across the border for 33 years, I see the migrants on the streets right now and the past few weeks but it has been happening years.
‘When Obama was president he deported a lot more people than Trump, but the numbers are so high with Biden now. This is not new for me but the numbers are getting higher.
‘I get clients who want to buy for children and give to immigrants. They buy $100 every time, and I give them $40 extra in clothing and tell them, please give to the migrants.
‘If the migrants come in and buy a hoodie or something then sometimes I give them free socks or a t-shirt. Some don’t have money, and it’s sad they are very much in need of things.’
Some local businesses have been seeing an influx in Good Samaritans arriving to buy goods including toys, blankets and shoes for the hoards of migrants flooding the city
Locals have been overwhelmed by the urge to assist the thousands of migrants passing through, with offerings of food, drink and shelter
Some locals have been driving around town distributing goods that will help keep migrants warm as they sleep on the streets of the city in increasingly cold temperatures
Extensive lines of illegal immigrants waiting for the next bus out of town have taken shape
Tavera added that the influx of migrants is also causing a backlog at the official port of entry for his clients from Mexico who are crossing over – with lines tailing back for up to three hours.
He believes that the issue comes from border control being ‘so understaffed’ and ‘not having enough people, etc. to process them.’
Many other El Paso residents want to help the migrants clean up and stay warm after the harrowing journey to the U.S – with food banks days away from running dry.
Kind-hearted volunteers running food banks and shelters in the border town of El Paso are begging the Biden administration to help them ease the crisis they have created by allowing thousands of migrants to enter the country every week.
The show of charity comes the day Title 42 was supposed to expire. Court rulings caused the Biden administration to delay ending the immigration-related public health order from the end of May to the end of December.
The administration, however, responded to a recent stay from the Supreme Court requesting that a pause on ending Title 42 be extended to at least Tuesday, December 27.
Local businesses have been generous with providing food and warm beverages to illegal migrants passing through as temperatures dip and some have nothing in their wallets
Karina, 29, hands out blankets to newly arrived immigrants outside the Greyhound station
Food trucks have also been getting in on the Christmas spirit, handing out free hot meals to those in need as well as dried food from charities.
David Varela, who teaches history at the University of Texas El Paso and other local education institutions, told DailyMail.com that he believes the Christmas and Hanukkah holiday have only bolstered residents’ giving spirit toward migrants.
He said: ‘I do frankly think that because of the time of year it is, considering also the weather, there’s more groups getting together giving water, clothing and resources. People are willing to help.
‘This is the first time that this city is overwhelmed to the point where our resources don’t suffice anymore, unfortunately. It’s thousands of people in a place that’s used to getting maybe hundreds.
‘We’ll always join and pull together to help our fellow refugee asylum seeker immigrants, anyone who’s looking to start the American dream.’
A cashier at a business close to the border said many migrants don’t have money or papers when arriving, so residents buy items like blankets, jackets, gloves and hats to hand out to those camped out on the street overnight in sub-freezing temperatures.
Employees at a currency exchange booth situated among the shops told DailyMail.com that before 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 227 people had already come in to either trade Pesos for USD or receive wire transfers.
They said the rate of visitors at the booth has greatly increased in recent days and the majority are those crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.
Varela added: ‘The people of El Paso know exactly what it’s like to be an immigrant, and the majority of this city knows what it’s like to be on that side of the river, yearning to be on this side.’
Another worker at a shop called Yvans World said El Paso residents frequently come to his store looking to purchase items only for migrants.
He added: ‘Lots of locals are helping the migrants a lot, they are buying shoes, giving toys to children.’
Amelia Zapata, 62, works at a boutique close to the border and said migrants sometimes come in to buy clothing so they can change into something new.
A local money exchange says it has been overwhelmed by the number of people arriving asking to exchange pesos for dollars
Local toy drives have been directed toward the children coming in with packs of illegal immigrants as the holidays approach
Hundreds of migrants were forced to take to the streets of El Paso after Border Patrol facilities and local shelters were overwhelmed by the influx in illegal activity at the southern border in the last week.
Many groups, as well as individual El Paso residents, have taken to donating clothing and toys to migrants on the streets – especially those camping out around a Greyhound bus station in downtown El Paso.
Some migrants were waiting until Title 42 to end on Wednesday to cross into the U.S., but once the stay was extended, several made their break across the border despite being met by 400 Texas National Guard troops deployed this week by Republican Governor Greg Abbott.
Title 42 is a public-health policy that was enacted by former President Donald Trump at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The policy allowed Border Patrol to expedite expulsions without hearing asylum claims from migrants crossing into the U.S.
The policy has been used around 2.5 million times over the last nearly three years to expel migrants back to whichever port from which they illegally crossed into the U.S.
Officials said over the weekend 2,500 migrants were arriving in El Paso daily, a figure that could rise to ‘4,000, 5,000, maybe 6,000.’
El Paso City officials confirmed that they will start sheltering migrants at Bassett Middle School and Moorehead Middle School – which are currently vacant.
The city is also planning to use the Convention Center as a migrant shelter later in the week to provide ‘essential services.’
The Department of Homeland Security has requested an additional $3billion to deal with the impending onslaught of migrants – on top of the $56.7billion President Biden requested to be included in the fiscal year 2023 spending bill Congress is currently negotiating for the department (DHS).
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