The Texas National Guard deployed an operation Wednesday along the banks of the Rio Grande River at the El Paso border to block the passage of migrants trying to reach the city.
About a dozen military vehicles, as well as Texas State Police officers, have been seen at the border erecting wire barriers in an attempt to block entry and telling migrants to head for official entrances, as reported by NBC News.
Several groups of men, women and children who had made it across were held back by the wire fences and members of the Guard. «Service members in El Paso are in the process of erecting concertina barriers to deter and repel migrants,» the Texas Military Department confirmed to NBC News.
Over the past few weeks, thousands of people have crossed the border across the river as anticipation mounts over the end of the public health rule, known as Title 42, which the government has used as justification for allowing the immediate removal of migrants since it was put into effect in March 2020 by former President Donald Trump.
The National Guard has clarified that its soldiers are trying to redirect migrants to official border crossings, but these allegedly remain closed to asylum seekers while the cited rule remains in effect, ‘The Washington Post’ has claimed.
This Wednesday, the White House has filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to reject the Republican attempt to delay the end of Title 42.
In addition, the White House’s request comes a day after the U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition filed by attorneys general from Texas and 18 other GOP-led states to maintain the rule, which allows authorities to immediately remove migrants from U.S. borders.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)