ARIZONA, USA — The Supreme Court of the United States is keeping Title 42 in place for now while it decides whether to lift it or not.
The controversial Title 42 was supposed to end on Wednesday after a federal judge ruled in November that it was "arbitrary and capricious."
The Trump-era policy continued under the Biden Administration, allows the government to send migrants and asylum seekers back to Mexico or their home country out of concerns for spreading COVID-19. However, public health experts have condemned the policy as "baseless."
Still, without Title 42 lifted yet, organizations in Arizona that help migrants once they're in the U.S. have already noticed increases in the number of people they're helping.
Pastor Angel Campos from Monte Vista Cross-Cultural Church in Phoenix sometimes takes in 100 migrants daily.
"A lot of people, a lot of meals, a lot of trips to the airport," Campos said, who came to the U.S. as a migrant from Mexico when he was 15. He's a naturalized citizen now. "That's why I help them because I know how other countries are. We're blessed in the United States."
Last Tuesday, Campos received 82 migrants from federal custody. Most of the migrants he helps are from Central and South America, Campos said.
At his church, he gives them food and clothes and helps organize travel to family and friends already here in the U.S.
"More people are venturing already to cross," Campos said, anticipating the end of Title 42, which was stayed Monday by the Supreme Court.
The increase of people for whenever Title 42 ends is what Pima County has long been preparing for.
"This is a crisis that has gone mostly unseen because of hundreds of volunteers," Mark B. Evans, Communications Director for Pima County, said.
The county is concerned those shelters and hotels the county contracts will become overwhelmed, and migrants will be released on the streets by the government.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Organizaciones de Arizona buscan aumentar la ayuda para asistir a migrantes
"We can't say, 'Welcome to America, here's your patch of sidewalk while we try and figure out how to give you, you know, transportation to your sponsor home in somewhere else in the United States.'," Evans said. "I think it's important that situation never occurs."
That concern is shared by Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest President and CEO Connie Phillips.
"It's not good for the community, and it's not good for those people," Phillips said.
Phillips also notes that migrants don't stay in Arizona.
"They're just moving onto friends and family that they have elsewhere in the United States that are waiting for them to welcome them," Phillips said. "They are here legally at that point."
The people helping migrants recognize they just need help for a day to get where they need to go, but with more people trying to get into the U.S., it overwhelms the organizations trying to help.
"We need immigration reform. We need a better process than the current one," Evans said.
"There's no easy solution," Campos said.
Campos said migrants go to much colder places and could use clothing to help them on their journey.
"If you have some good clothes you're not using, bring them over here. Look for a church that is helping migrants because we're sending them to New York. We're sending them to all these states. And they sometimes they're wearing just a t-shirt," Campos said.
Phillips said what does help are bags filled with snacks migrants can take with them. Information on how to help Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest's website.
Pastor Magdalena Schwartz, who takes in buses of migrants on Thursdays and Fridays at her church, is also in need of volunteers and help. She can be contacted at 480-221-7970.
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