About 80,000 immigrants are in Guatemala with plans to head to the southern border of the United States following the end of Title 42 enforcement on May 11, according to a report in The New York Post.
80,000 migrants amassed in Guatemala, heading to US for Title 42 end https://t.co/B62SrLJMTs pic.twitter.com/fyssMalVAW
— New York Post (@nypost) May 9, 2023
Texas Representative Tony Gonzales revealed the information to The Post and claimed that Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei provided him with the data. He added that the alarming figure forced him to call the Biden administration. However, he did not receive a response:
There are 80,000 illegals crossing Guatemala right now (...) I called the White House and nobody answers.
Gonzales said that he is in constant communication with the Guatemalan president, as the country plays a key role in the movement of illegal immigrants. He also praised the country's efforts to prevent migrants from getting to the U.S. borders.
Mexican reports claim there will be an additional 60,000 immigrants
The media also reported that a total of 209,500 immigrants are waiting for Title 42 to expire in order to enter the country. About 3,500 illegal aliens are already making the journey to the U.S. from different countries in South and Central America (passing through Guatemala to get to Mexico).
Mexican media outlets have reported that there are around 60,000 migrants being held at Mexico's Tapachula/Chiapas border with Guatemala.
Main border areas of the country are on high alert
The main border areas of the country are on high alert. According to Border Patrol statistics, about 81,000 illegal aliens attempted to cross the border in the last ten days.
An estimated 35,000 illegal aliens are expected to enter the country at the Ciudad Juarez/El Paso border. Up to 16,000 immigrants could enter from the Tijuana/San Diego border. Around 15,000 illegals came through the Matamoros/Brownsville border last week. Gonzales declared that the agents "are completely overwhelmed":
They will simply grow. The Border Patrol is just trying to keep their heads above water; they are completely overwhelmed.
NEW: Remarkable video from our Fox drone team shows an enormous line of hundreds of migrants who just crossed illegally into Brownsville, TX this evening. A large majority of them are single adults. The RGV continues to see a massive surge of illegal crossings ahead of T42 drop. pic.twitter.com/xHDV8sc8PD
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 8, 2023
Gonzales, who toured the El Paso border last week, was particularly concerned about the immigrant camps set up in these vulnerable areas. He added that in El Paso, due to staffing shortages, immigration officials had to release 600-700 illegals who normally would have been removed from the country:
Nobody talks about camps that are being built (...) They are being released with a 'notice to appear,' GPS trackers are expected in federal immigration court on an assigned day. All it's going to do is encourage more people to come (...) Title 42 has already been canceled.
"Deportation flights are going to double"
The Biden administration wants to exert control over the immigration crisis but they haven't been successful. State Department spokeswoman Kristina Rosales spoke out against illegally entering the country, including by sea, a tactic mainly used by Cubans. She declared that anyone who attempts to enter the U.S. illegally will be deported. She also said that "the deportation flights that started recently are going to continue and will be doubled."
Rosales stated that the number of illegal immigrants will triple in the coming months due to the end of Title 42. However, she assured that all of them will be deported:
People who are not using the accessible routes, those who are presenting themselves by land, by sea, or who are detained by the Coast Guard at sea, or present themselves irregularly at the airport; those people will be repatriated.
