EL PASO, Texas — A major community event on the eve of the Sun Bowl college football game next week has been canceled as a result of the city’s decision to use the convention center to house up to 1,000 immigrants living on the streets downtown.
The Sun Bowl Association announced this week that it had axed the 2022 Sun Bowl Fan Fiesta on Thursday in response to Democratic Mayor Oscar Leeser’s state of emergency declaration earlier this month.
“The mayor has declared a little humanitarian state of emergency,” Sun Bowl Association Executive Director Bernie Olivas said in an announcement Wednesday. “They are using the convention center to house some of these poor immigrants that are looking for shelter somewhere, so we have canceled the Fan Fiesta.”
The Sun Bowl college football game dates back to 1935, and this year’s matchup features UCLA and Pittsburgh. As the game and other bowls have become bigger attractions, other events have been added to the weekend, such as the fan fiesta, which unites the community.
TEXAS MILITARY HELPS REGAIN CONTROL OF BORDER AMID EL PASO EMERGENCY
The fan fiesta that takes place on the eve of the big game was also canceled in 2020 and 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic outbreak. The last one that took place in 2019 boasted a fireworks show, a battle of the bands, live entertainment, performances by local cheerleaders, on-site food vendors, and activities for children.
Aerial view of about 1000 beds ready for migrants to come. Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino says he hopes the shelter could be ready in the next several hours. pic.twitter.com/DKcF6cJNZG
— Karla Draksler (@karladraxKTSM) December 21, 2022
The convention center has been converted into temporary housing for immigrants released by federal immigration officials after they illegally crossed the border. More than 10,000 immigrants were released into El Paso last week and more than 84,000 in a four-month period that ended in early December, according to publicly available city data.
The Washington Examiner observed hundreds of immigrants on the street in a couple of spots downtown this week. Immigrants were on the street after being released by Border Patrol to religious groups and nonprofit organizations that do not have the room or resources to take in as many people as is needed.
Fewer than 200 immigrants stayed at the convention center on Wednesday night, as well as Thursday night, El Paso Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino said in a phone call Friday afternoon. The high number of beds left unused was not accidental but intentional, he said.
“We’re preparing for when Title 42 goes away,” he said, referring to a federal clause that, when canceled, is expected to result in more immigrants coming across the border into El Paso. Title 42 was slated to end Wednesday, but it remains in place following a Supreme Court temporary stay. “Of course time is more advantageous to us. It lets us prepare.”
The city’s approach avoids setting smaller operations and then needing to scale up with no time to prepare.
“We’re also looking at the next two facilities that we’ll stand up as shelters,” D’Agostino said.
The city is working to acquire two empty schools to house immigrants. The schools each had 1,500 students enrolled and could facilitate immigrants in classrooms and public spaces such as the cafeteria and the gym.
The convention center downtown opened to immigrants on Wednesday evening, according to D’Agostino, as an unusually cold weather system moved into the region. One reporter filmed immigrants being walked to a back entrance of the facility where trucks unload.
“We want to make sure they are out of the elements, they’re safe, they’re secure, there’s security here, and they’ll have meals provided,” said D’Agostino during an invite-only press conference with reporters Wednesday.
Despite the opening of the temporary shelter, hundreds of immigrants slept Wednesday evening body-to-body on the sidewalk outside the Sacred Heart Church downtown and a block from the Greyhound Bus Station, which is next to the convention center.
While El Paso residents celebrate the holidays four blocks away, immigrants with nowhere to go after being dropped onto the street by nonprofits are sleeping outside a Greyhound station due to bus shortages. The wind chill tonight is 30 degrees. Adults and children are out here. pic.twitter.com/DkJyO59AFB
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) December 22, 2022
A front desk associate at the Hotel Paso Del Norte, a luxury hotel by Marriott International located one block from the convention center, said the cancellation had not significantly affected the number of guests expected to stay at the hotel.
“People are just calling in beforehand asking if it’s safe to be here in El Paso, just with everything going on,” said an employee, Julia, on Friday morning. “These people are just trying to get from Point A to Point B just like you and me. They’re — they’re contained in their own spot. They’re not there wandering around.”
The Washington Examiner was unable to obtain interviews with Leeser, the police department, or the county sheriff’s office.
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A request to tour the facility Friday morning was denied. As this reporter called El Paso city spokespeople outside, El Paso Live’s Director of Event Services Matt Christmas confronted the reporter and had two security officers escort her off the property.
The city expects $6 million in funding from the federal government to help cover the cost of operations. It has yet to be reimbursed for the spending thus far, D’Agostino said.
