US Border Communities Declare Disasters as Title 42 Ends

A Texas National Guard soldier watches as an illegal immigrant walks into a makeshift camp in El Paso, Texas, on May 11, 2023. John Moore/Getty Images

Several South Texas counties issued disaster declarations as the Title 42 immigration order expired Thursday and amid predictions that waves of illegal immigrants will cross the border in the coming days.

Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez on Thursday issued (pdf) a disaster declaration, allowing his county to obtain relief funds. The county sits across the Rio Grande from Tamaulipas, Mexico, and there have been reports of thousands of would-be illegal immigrants located across the river waiting to cross.