Border Disaster

US Border Communities Declare Disasters as Title 42 Ends 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. Around the same time, Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, too, issued a disaster declaration on Thursday “in response to the imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property resulting from the Border Security Disaster,” according to a statement from his office. The “Border Security Disaster” went into effect immediately and will last for seven days until further review, his office said. Cortez said that he received word that some 20,000 illegal migrants could potentially surge into Hidalgo County in the coming days. His county is located at the very southern tip of Texas. “I have received credible information from officials with Customs and Border Protection that large groups of migrants are probing our international border in search of crossing points,” Cortez told local media outlets. “I have decided to declare this emergency as a first step in securing all available state and federal resources to ensure the health and safety of our residents.” He noted that when it comes to illegal immigration, his county has no authority. The federal government is the sole authority in the United States that has the capacity to handle illegal immigration, although Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has taken steps to deal with border security the recent days.