Large Number of Migrants Lined Up in Texas Before Title 42 Ends, Drone Video Shows

A majority of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border are single adults

A Texas National Guard soldier speaks to immigrants at high-traffic illegal border crossing area along Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 20, 2022. John Moore/Getty Images

Hundreds of illegal immigrants are lined up in Texas as the Rio Grande Valley region is experiencing a massive uptick in unlawful crossings ahead of the expiration of the U.S. government’s Title 42 policy, according to a video circulating online.

The drone video shows an “enormous line” of hundreds of illegal immigrants who recently crossed into Brownsville, Texas, according to a May 8 tweet by Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin.

“A large majority of them are single adults,” Melugin wrote.

The flood of illegal immigrants comes just days before the Trump-era Title 42 policy is scheduled to end on May 11. Title 42 empowered the U.S. government to automatically expel illegal immigrants because of the pandemic and concerns over public health.

According to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), it’s possible that hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants will enter the United States when the policy officially ends.

“DHS and Border Patrol are warning there are an estimated 700,000 migrants in Mexico ready to rush the border when Title 42 is lifted on May 11th,” she wrote in a May 5 tweet, adding that the Darien Gap in Panama has reported a more than 500 percent increase in migrations to the United States.

“Migrants are coming because Joe Biden opened our border to the entire world and the American people have to pay for it all and live with the national security implications and dangerous consequences,” Greene said.

Troops at the Border

On May 2, the White House and Pentagon announced that the executive branch will raise the number of troops working along the border to 4,000 from 2,500. The additional 1,500 troops will serve in a limited capacity, carrying out tasks such as transportation, tracking and surveillance, and data entry.

However, troops won’t engage in any law enforcement action. Instead, their presence will potentially allow Border Patrol agents to focus more on illegal border crossings.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called the decision a “publicity stunt” that won’t stop the border crisis created by the Biden administration.

“President Biden wants to send troops to the border—not to secure it and enforce our immigration laws, but to process illegal immigrants faster,” Cotton said.

Collin Rugg of Trending Politics wrote in a tweet that Texas has deployed its Tactical Border Force ahead of the end of Title 42.

The Texas National Guard is preparing Black Hawk helicopters and C-130 aircraft as it braces for an “invasion” on the southern border, Rugg said, adding that there are 15,000 people waiting to enter the country.

During an April 30 news conference, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said the Texas city is “getting prepared now for what we call the unknown.” He called it “bothersome” that many illegal migrants think they’ll be admitted to the United States without documentation once Title 42 ends.

“They’ve come in, really, with a false pretense that there will be open borders starting on May 11 and anyone that’s already in the United States will no longer be required to have proper documentation, and that is an untrue statement,” Leeser said.

“We are not opening the borders. The borders are not open today, and they will not be open on May 12,” he said.

During a news conference on May 5, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that after Title 42 ends, the administration will use “expedited removal authorities” under Title 8 to expel illegal immigrants quickly.

The process of expelling an illegal immigrant takes longer under Title 8 than under Title 42.