EL PASO: Shelters Overwhelmed, Migrant Violence Hits Outside Bus Station

As freezing weather approaches El Paso, a homeless shelter reports it is beyond capacity due to the surge in migrants being released on the city’s streets. Elsewhere in the city, two migrants were attacked and robbed outside a bus station by another migrant illegally present from Mexico.

As thousands of migrants camp out along the Rio Grande in Mexico and along the streets of El Paso, freezing conditions are expected to hit. Five homeless shelters report they are unable to accept new people as they are either at or above capacity, KVIA ABC7 in El Paso reported.

DYK: During October (FY23), El Paso Sector saw a 280% increase in encounters compared to October last year (FY22).

14,001 encounters in October FY22 to 53,284 in October FY23.

Source:https://t.co/HneuBTJJ4v pic.twitter.com/PjwPZ4bwvD

— Chief Raul Ortiz (@USBPChief) December 13, 2022

John Martin, deputy director for the Opportunity Center in El Paso told CBS4 news that two of his shelters are already severely over capacity. His organization calls for serving all homeless people regardless of country of origin.

“We’re one of the few shelters that will accept everybody, but even then when we get full, we’re full,” Martin told the local CBS affiliate. “There comes a point where we just have to say no, simply because we just don’t have the physical space to put people. We don’t want to say no.”

According to a dashboard run by the City of El Paso, Border Patrol officials are holding 5,628 migrants in custody. This is up by more than 500 from Monday in a facility that is already well above capacity. The dashboard reports the release of nearly 500 people daily onto the city’s streets and an additional 800 into community shelters operated by NGOs.

Migrants cross the Rio Grande en mass in hopes of seeking asylum to El Paso, Texas from Ciudad Juarez in one of the largest crossings in recent memory in the region. pic.twitter.com/SI92eJZhF4

— J. Omar Ornelas (@fotornelas) December 12, 2022

At least two migrants released onto the streets was robbed by another migrant as they waited outside an El Paso Greyhound Bus Station, the El Paso Times reported. A Mexican national and a man from New Mexico allegedly approached a group of four migrants waiting outside the bus station.

The two men demanded property from the group of migrants and allegedly slapped one in the face. The assault continued as the migrant bent over to protect himself and was kicked in the head and face, the police report states. The two men reportedly stole cell phones from two of the migrants.

Another group of migrants witnessed the assault and robbery and chased down the attackers. They surrounded the two alleged robbers and waited for police.

El Paso police officers arrested Jaime Ramon Guerrero, 27, a Mexican national from Juárez and Guillermo Hernandez, 49, of Las Cruces, New Mexico. The El Paso Times reports Hernandez faces four counts of robbery. Guerrero also faces assault and robbery charges. The men are being held in the El Paso County jail on bonds of $125,000 and $60,000 respectively.

The chaos in the city of El Paso comes as migrant crossings surged over the weekend. Nearly 7,400 crossed over the weekend, Breitbart Texas reported. More than 1,000 of those crossed in a single event Sunday night.