MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Title 42 ends Friday at 12 a.m. It's the first time in more than three years that the U.S. is changing its immigration policy for people seeking asylum.
Charlotte area agencies are preparing for a stream of people to come to the area in the next few days.
Places like Camino and its campus have been working with the city of Charlotte and the county to prepare for them. They say they've already seen people trickle in over the past two weeks with even more expected in the weeks to come.
"Over the last 11 days, we have seen 56 people," Diedre John, director of community engagement for Camino, told WCNC Charlotte. "Within the last 24 hours, we've had about 20 people come to our campus here at Camino."
"For us to be able to integrate families back into the community fast, we're asking for housing assistance whether that be a room to rent, or maybe even a whole house," John added.
A call to the community as thousands of men, women and children sit at the Texas-Mexico border. Sharon Dove, who runs the Immigrant Justice Program at the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy said the people that are able to make it here will need assistance.
The organization looks to connect with the newly arrived to provide legal representation and assistance in removal settings.
"We expect an even larger number of people that will come to the Charlotte region," Dove said. "People have been coming for decades, families are here, so it's the logical place."
While emergency shelters like Camino prepare, and the Center for Legal Advocacy connects with those who can help navigate a new country's system, Jina Krause-Vilmar told WCNC Charlotte the new policy will make the journey harder -- not just to get to the U.S. but to try and stay here.
Krause-Vilmar is the CEO and president of Upwardly Global, which works with immigrants and refugees who were professionals in their home countries and are now underemployed within the U.S. There are 2.2 million within the U.S.
"You're really putting a lottery on people's lives," Krause-Vilmar told WCNC Charlotte. "As people wait for asylum or entry, and they can't work, they become desperate to feed their families -- which is when bad things happen. People don't make decisions to uproot their lives and families based on policies of any other country. They do it because they feel they have no other choice!"
If you'd like to help Camino, supplies are desperately needed. You can find more here on Camino's website, linked here.
Contact Colin Mayfield at cmayfield@wcnc.com or follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.