Top border officials in the Biden administration in Washington, D.C., have authorized all Border Patrol sectors to conduct “safe” mass releases of migrants to city streets in case non-governmental organizations are unable to accommodate them, meaning tens of thousands will be released into American cities later this week when Title 42 expires at midnight Thursday.

According to sources who were not authorized to speak publicly, due to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities being over capacity in multiple sectors, as a result of this decision, migrants will be released en masse at various locations such as bus stops, gas stations, supermarkets, and in towns and cities along the border, Fox News reported.

NGOs are close to reaching their capacity to provide accommodation to migrants and with the Title 42 public health order set to be lifted on May 11, tens of thousands more migrants are expected to arrive in the US. The city of El Paso, Texas has already seen numerous migrants living on the sidewalks, the report said.

Officials anticipate that mass releases will occur only if NGOs reach their capacity limit, which they believe is likely to happen. In the past 72 hours, Border Patrol has made 26,000 apprehensions and recorded over 7,000 “gotaways.” These numbers come prior to the end of Title 42, which is predicted to lead to an even greater surge of migration on top of the already overwhelming numbers authorities are experiencing.

“The dam is about to break,” one Border Patrol source told Fox News.

The Title 42 order has been in effect since 2020 to quickly expel hundreds of thousands of migrants due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has been used by both the Trump and Biden administrations. In March, almost half of all migrant encounters resulted in a Title 42 expulsion. The order is set to end on Thursday, along with the COVID-19 national emergency.

The Biden administration has warned that the idea that migrants have a better chance of being admitted into the U.S. once the Title 42 order ends is misinformation, and that it is increasing penalties for illegal entry while also urging migrants to use legal pathways.

However, the possibility of mass releases of migrants who have entered the U.S. illegally and crossed multiple countries to do so, is likely to undermine the administration’s message.

“As we have said repeatedly, individuals who do not have a lawful basis to remain will be removed,” acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller noted in a statement late Monday. “Individuals should not listen to the lies of smugglers and instead use lawful pathways to protection.”

Fox News adds:

Those released into the U.S. are entered into U.S. immigration removal proceedings, but that can often take many years before a final order of removal is issued. Even then, deportations have dropped sharply under the Biden administration as Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) priorities have been narrowed. But officials say that, once Title 42 ends, they will use tools like expedited removal under traditional Title 8 authorities.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently made a public plea for migrants not to come to the U.S. illegally, warning of the dangers and what he said was a likelihood they would be removed.

“The border is not open,” Mayorkas claimed last week during a trip to Texas. “It has not been open, and it will not be open subsequent to May 11. And the smugglers who exploit vulnerable migrants are spreading misinformation. They are spreading false information, lies in a way to lure vulnerable people to the southern border and those individuals will only be returned.”

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) took to Twitter to issue a dire warning about what she sees coming:

I don’t think anyone realizes how bad things are going to get in their country starting Thursday. The word has gone out to the world that the American border OFFICIALLY becomes open and everyone has gotten to Mexico in anticipation. These are not people that truly need refuge and asylum. Many are people that got on planes from all over the world, including China, and are just waiting on the clock to strike midnight on May 11 to bypass the immigration laws of this nation. If they applied for a visa like a law-abiding person, they’d have absolutely no way to get in. These people could come from ANYWHERE with any type of background. We have NO idea who they are. This is a complete insult to American sovereignty and is against EVERYTHING this nation stands for.

I don’t think anyone realizes how bad things are going to get in their country starting Thursday.

The word has gone out to the world that the American border OFFICIALLY becomes open and everyone has gotten to Mexico in anticipation.

These are not people that truly need refuge…

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) May 8, 2023