(Headline USA) The mayor of a border town in Texas sent a letter to President Joe Biden this week begging him not to repeal Title 42, a Trump-era public health order that allows border officials to immediately turn away migrants who illegally enter the country.
Mayor Javier Villalobos told Biden that “no amount of preparation” will ready his town, McAllen, Texas, and other border cities for the waves of migrants that will flood the area as soon as Title 42 is lifted. The policy is set to expire at the end of May, according to the Biden administration.
“Although our community is giving, well-prepared, and proactive, no amount of preparation will allow for a local government such as the City of McAllen to respond to the dramatic rise in undocumented migration that is anticipated as a direct result of the United States federal government announcing the end of Title 42 effective May 23, 2022,” he wrote.
Villalobos argued he is particularly concerned about the effects that mass releases of detained migrants could have on his city’s health.
“With the BA.2 variant rapidly impacting the northeastern United States such that health and safety protocols are being reconsidered, and reimplemented, a delay in lifting Title 42 affords your administration additional time to mobilize a response to combat the new variant’s threat and protect the health and safety of all Americans,” he explained.
“I implore you to prioritize the health and safety of my community, Texans and all Americans, and to reconsider the administration’s plan to lift Title 42.”
McAllen, a city of 149,000 residents, has seen 100 to 500 migrants released into its streets on a daily basis since last March. Many of the migrants are dropped off at Catholic-run charity centers downtown.
Another border town mayor expressed similar concerns earlier this month, saying that his town of 17,000 people is already overwhelmed by the nearly 150 migrants released into the area every day.
“They’re releasing – in Eagle Pass, Texas, right now, which is 63 miles from Uvalde, they are releasing 700 people a day into the community. Same thing in Del Rio, over 500 a day… It’s a powder keg that’s going to blow up and this government has no regard for American citizens,” Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said.
