In early May 2023, Breitbart Texas traveled to the city of El Paso, Texas, to view a crisis that saw hundreds of illegal aliens released daily by the Biden Administration camping on city streets in the historic downtown area. Between March and May of 2023, more than 100,000 illegal aliens were apprehended by the Border Patrol after entering the city from Mexico, and most were released onto the streets to pursue asylum claims.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, the thousands released by the Biden administration to pursue asylum claims erected makeshift structures on the downtown streets and alleyways around the Sacred Heart Church in El Paso. The city struggled to financially deal with the thousands of released aliens who often spent more than a week on the city streets attempting to find transportation to parts further inside the United States.
FILE: Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas
As the crisis unfolded, the Mayor of the City of El Paso issued a Declaration of Disaster and a State of Emergency in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the influx of illegal aliens living on the city streets at the time.
Many sought shade as afternoon temperatures neared 100 degrees Fahrenheit on most days during the month. Breitbart Texas observed the aliens, unable to bathe for days, searching for relief from the heat on the city’s sidewalks and business entryways. Many panhandled at street corners and relied on the generosity of local business owners for food and supplies.
FILE: Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas
The recently released aliens, many from Venezuela, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti, lay on the sidewalks of the city for three blocks surrounding the church. The aliens who spoke to Breitbart Texas said they had been living on the streets for anywhere between one and nine days after their release from Border Patrol custody.
Numerous non-government agencies, including the American Red Cross, responded to the city to assist with the crisis more than three years into President Biden’s first and only term. One Dominican Republic migrant in downtown El Paso at the time told Breitbart Texas he and most of the others camped out on the street had no money to pay for housing or travel away from the city. Jose Enrique, who was nearly 30 years old at the time, said he would stay on the city’s streets until there was some way to get out of the border city.
FILE: Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas
In April 2023, Border Patrol agents in El Paso apprehended more than 41,000 illegal aliens, making the sector the busiest crossing point along the southwest border at the time. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a statement on conditions at the border, in his usual dismissive tone, declaring that the border was not open.
Mayorkas told reporters at the time, “The smuggler’s propaganda is false. Let me be clear: Our border is not open and will not be open after May 11th.” The Secretary was referring to the deadline for the expiration of the Title 42 Emergency COVID-19 expulsion authority.
By May 2025, just four months after President Trump took office, Border Patrol apprehensions in the El Paso Sector had dropped to 2,011 from 26,172 in May 2023. The elimination of widescale catch and release policies, enhanced border prosecutions, and the elimination of parole programs and land border ports had brought the number of illegal border crossings down by more than 90 percent.
FILE: Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas
In 2023, the City of El Paso received approximately $45 million in federal funding to manage the response to the crisis. According to audit documents, the funding was used to provide shelter, meals, and transportation out of the city due to the crisis. Expenditures were tracked on a web-based migrant crisis dashboard at the time. The website no longer exists.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
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