El Paso Standard

Hundreds of migrants are sleeping on the streets of El Paso after a large number of people seeking asylum in the U.S. crossed the border with Mexico over the weekend.

According to a New York Times report, Border Patrol agents encountered more than 7,000 migrants, including a group of more than 1,000 who crossed on Sunday night.

“Unacceptable,” U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican, said in a Tweet. “Keep Title 42 in place. Enforce our immigration laws. This chaos needs to stop.”

Border Patrol was forced to release fewer than 500 migrants into the streets of El Paso because shelters were filled, with many forced to sleep on mattresses on the street and use boxes for shelter to avoid the cold weather as their asylum claims were processed, according to the New York Post.

The Post report also noted that Border Patrol encounters with migrants will likely increase by as much as 40% if Title 42 is allowed to lapse on Dec. 21.

“Here we are a week away from Title 42 ending and the crisis is now on steroids and everything it touches gets consumed right now,” Gonzales told the Post. “There are no Border Patrol agents out in the field, everybody is in processing centers.”