SAN DIEGO — Just days away from the end of Title 42, hundreds more migrants are gathering at the U.S./Mexico Border in San Ysidro.
As the end of Title 42 approaches, all three border states are taking a different approach on how to address the anticipated surge of migrants.
Immigration expert Elaine Wood say she thinks California is in a “bit of wait-and-see approach.”
“In Texas, the governor is going ahead and saying look, we need to have National Guard troops, we need to have public safety,” Wood said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has not announced National Guard troops will be deployed to the border — this is a different tactic from Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Abbott announced the creation of the Texas Tactical Border Force, which will deploy National Guard members to hot spots along the border to turn back migrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally.
“Texas has the ability to secure the border ourselves. If we were acting in isolation, we would secure the border,” Abbott said in a press conference Monday.
Border State Governor Katie Hobbs of Arizona has not yet activated the state’s National Guard, but said she is prepared to if needed, during a press conference addressing her plan of attack for the end of Title 42. She said she is pressuring the federal government for more resources.
“As I’ve done before, I am prepared to take executive action, we will activate state resources as needed, and have access to resources as necessary and that includes but is not limited to sending additional National Guard troops to the border,” Hobbs said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has not announced any plans to address the end of Title 42, or implement any additional actions at the border.
“It comes down to kind of a political fight, and what happens in the middle are people facing a humanitarian crisis,” Wood said.
She said she is anticipating to see states issue a State of Emergency after the end of Title 42, which would send states additional federal funding.
“Hopefully it doesn’t become a violent situation, but I think having a state of emergency puts people on notice that this is a serious issue,” Wood added.
While the federal government is responsible for immigration policy and processing, California has served as a model of partnership for a safe and welcoming border, undertaking humanitarian efforts in border communities to support arriving migrants once they have been released by the federal government,” Newsom’s office said in a statement to FOX 5 Monday.
Currently, the state supports three migrant respite shelters, two in San Diego and one in Imperial; two travel staging sites, one in Imperial and one in San Diego; and six non-congregate sheltering sites in Riverside County.
To date, California has invested roughly $1 billion towards this work since 2019. California has also successfully advocated for more federal funding to support these efforts.
