EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)- The area of Sacred Heart Church has emptied as Title 42 approaches its end.
In the last two weeks, the crisis along the border drastically changed in different ways.
As far back in April, migrants started to gather in Downtown El Paso by setting up tents and crowding the Opportunity Center and Sacred Heart Church.
When the large gatherings happened, it overwhelmed many volunteers and church leaders.
Many migrants in El Paso didn’t have legal documentation to stay in the United States, which resulted on leaving many on the streets.
El Pasoans started to notice migrants on the streets carrying yellow envelopes, some were fraudulent as scammers were selling false documents to the migrants.
Additionally, the city announced they were anticipating around 12,000 to 15,000 more migrants crossing into the U.S.
The city worked with the El Paso International Airport to discuss transportation. City leaders said there were only about 500 available seats a day to transfer out migrants.
Two days before Title 42 ended, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents conducted a targeted enforcement operation for migrants to surrender themselves for processing.
Border Patrol reported that 917 migrants voluntarily surrendered themselves at the processing center near Sacred Heart Church.
Border Patrol also reported that 44 migrants were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. A majority of those that surrendered were released.
Title 42 is set to end at 10 p.m. Mountain Time Thursday, May 11. After that date, migrants will be processed under Title 8.
In addition, many migrants that congregated around Sacred Heart Church were sent to the processing center in Northeast El Paso, some were released to local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to await transportation.
