BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Title 42 came to an end on Thursday, May 11, but the expiration of the emergency measure did not cause the mayhem politicians from Texas to Washington, D.C. claimed would happen.
In fact, things looked rather normal in Brownsville as law enforcement agents from local, state and federal agencies kept watchful eyes just in case the situation got out of control.
A top Biden administration official told the Texas Tribune Friday that there was no “major influx” of migrants rushing to the southern border overnight after the expiration of the emergency public health order used to quickly expel people from the country.
“We continue to encounter high levels of noncitizens at the border. But we did not see a substantial increase overnight or an influx at midnight,” Blas Nuсez-Neto, an assistant secretary for border and immigration policy at the Department of Homeland Security, told reporters Friday.
In downtown Brownsville, hundreds of migrants who obtained entry into the United States could be seen Friday making plans to travel to destinations all over the United States.
Some of them, like Alexis Ramos of Venezuela, have been doing odd jobs like cutting hair and washing the windshields of vehicles so they could make enough money to buy a bus ticket to places like Orlando, Kansas City, New York and San Antonio.
The migrants gained entry before Title 42 expired and many of them said they were jubilant to be in this country.
“I left Venezuela about six months ago,” Ryan Delgado said on Thursday. “II am on my way to Orlando.”
He said he needed $20 to complete $240 for a bus ticket.
‘’I have been washing windshields for the last three days,” Delgado said. “I am about to go north now.”
On Friday, he and about a dozen countrymen left the area around a convenience store that they used as a temporary gathering place.
Delgado said the journey from Venezuela, including going through Darien Gap, to Texas went well.
The only exception was in Mexico, he said, as a group of armed men outside Mexico City demanded for them to turn over any money and the cell phones they had with them.
Other Venezuelans interviewed said their goal was to go to places where they either have relatives or friends.
Although the presence of the migrants might have caused some tension among the locals, people interviewed said they have no problem.
Aaron Beltran, owner of Snappy’s, a convenience store on Adams Street and International Boulevard, said the migrants have been coming and going to this shop for the last five days.
“They are just fine. I try to help them out here and there,” he said. “I have been giving them hot dogs, pizzas and tacos before I close the shop at ten.”
A shop worker on Elizabeth Street in downtown Brownsville said he had to tell migrants the restrooms there are for customers only – something which most stores announce here and elsewhere for that matter.
Los Fresnos resident Abel Salinas said the migrants are here seeking a better life for them and for their families.
“I used to make a $1 an hour working in the fields when I was 17,” said the 73 year-old man as he stood with a group of friends across a plaza where hundreds of migrants were out and about, “so I went up north to earn more.
“I don’t blame these people for coming here,” he said. “I was told there are no good paying jobs where they come from.”
Editor’s Note: Texas Tribune reporter Uriel J. García contributed to this story.
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