You know where it’s warmer? Further south.

Images of migrants wrapped in blankets and sleeping on the streets of El Paso in freezing temperatures have raised welfare concerns as they circulated online this week amid a surge of people arriving in the west Texan city.

 

Over the last few days, thousands of migrants, including many hailing from Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela, huddled along the waters of the Rio Grande, while others waded across the river from El Paso’s sister city on the Mexican side of the border, Ciudad Juarez, to cross into the US.

Videos posted online show many migrants lying on the ground at the El Paso section of the border as they await entry to the US. Some have started fires to stay warm in makeshift camps on the riverbank as temperatures dropped below freezing this week.