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The experience of Dylan Torres Reyes, a 21-year-old Venezuelan, is typical of many of the migrants in El Paso.
After an arduous two-and-a-half month trip across South and Central America - in which he faced deadly jungles, corrupt police officers and racist treatment - he's spent three nights sleeping on the ground near the bus terminal, after one night when he was able to find room at a shelter.
He hopes to get to Chicago, where he has relatives.
"I've got no idea how I'm going to get there. I'm trying to get bus tickets, but I don't know how we'll get them," he told the BBC at a nearby park. "But I'm happy to be here. The treatment here has been excellent - it's just been very, very cold."
While city officials say they are doing their best to help house and transport migrants released from Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) each day, swelling numbers have strained resources. In the week ending 18 December alone, more than 10,300 migrants were released into the city, up from about 8,000 the week before.
Image caption,
Dylan Torres Reyes has spent three days sleeping rough
If Title 42 were to be lifted, federal and local officials have estimated that the number of daily migrant detentions would rise from 1,500 to between 4,000 and 6,000 - a figure that the city would be unable to handle with existing resources.
"It's not manageable. The shelters and community efforts have been overwhelmed," Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, told the BBC. "We have a problem, right now."
"We can't wait to see whether Title 42 ends or not," he added. "Right here, right now, we've got people in El Paso, on the streets. Children, women, with no winter clothing, No food, no water and no money to be transported to relatives."
State of emergency
On Sunday, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser, a Democrat, declared a seven-day state of emergency, which he said would give local authorities the resources to deal with an influx of migrants sleeping on the city's streets.
"We wanted to make sure people are treated with dignity," he told reporters. "We want to make sure everyone is safe."
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