A Texas border town and the federal government have reached a deal that stops the transfer of illegal immigrants to the border community, according to a report.
Saenz told The Monitor that, under the deal, the city is not required to test the individuals for COVID-19 before transporting them to other Texas locations.
“The reason why we don’t do testing is that once you test, there’s an obligation,” Saenz told the outlet. “If they’re positive, we’re told that you have to quarantine. We don’t have the infrastructure for that.
“I know some people may say, ‘You’re basically transporting untested people to other cities.’ And the answer is, ‘Yes.’ But what alternative do we have here, locally?” Saenz told the outlet, adding that no ICU beds were available in Laredo hospitals over the past seven days.
“We’ve had people in overflow, basically waiting for a hospital bed out in the hallways. I think today we had close to 40 just waiting for a room,” he said, adding that it will be up to authorities at the various destination points to carry out testing and provide safety measures.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the Laredo mayor’s office with a request for comment and further details on the settlement.
City officials said in court documents that local NGOs assisting illegal immigrants were overwhelmed and that there was a rise in the number of people being released without COVID-19 testing, posing a risk to the community.
“As Laredo is an underserved medical community with limited resources, it simply cannot accommodate a surge in COVID-19 positives,” the court document states.
Laredo officials said in the complaint that the Biden administration was causing “irreparable harm” with the flood of illegal immigrants being dispersed into the community.
DHS didn’t respond to an earlier request for comment on the lawsuit from The Epoch Times.
The DHS chief also shared statistics on apprehensions along the border, saying that, in July, 212,672 people were caught trying to cross into the United States illegally, a 13 percent increase over June. He added that 45 percent of the illegal immigrants apprehended in July were immediately expelled under Title 42 authority.
Mayorkas also outlined the administration’s efforts to address the problem, which he said involves a combination of push and pull factors—enhancing enforcement while also seeking to tackle some of the factors that drive people to leave their homes.
“Our plan has four pivotal parts: addressing the root causes, rebuilding and building safe, legal, and orderly pathways for migrants to apply for relief under our laws, without having to take the burden perilous journey north, improving security management, processing and other measures at our border, and attacking the smugglers,” he said.
