Sun Bowl migrant crisis UTEP Sun Bowl is photographed on Dec, 20, 2022 with the logo s of UCLA and Pitt. Sun Bowl2454

The ongoing migrant crisis in El Paso, Texas is too busy to ignore in the sports world.

On Friday, the annual Sun Bowl is scheduled to take place in its usual Sun Bowl stadium spot in El Paso. This year’s edition will see the ACC’s Pitt Panthers take on the Pac-12’s UCLA Bruins.

But there’s an ongoing crisis in the town of El Paso. Migrants have surged into the city on the border of Texas and Mexico in recent months as they seek a better life. And the elements around the town and the state of Texas have caused many issues to develop.

Despite that though, the Sun Bowl assures that everyone who visits the city and attends the game will be okay.

Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sun Bowl executive director Bernie Olivas said, “A lot of people hear the word ’emergency’ and think we’re under attack. These people are not coming here to look for anything other than a better place to live; they’re looking for a better life. There is no danger. These people are not here to harm anybody. There has been absolutely no violence or anything attributed to any of these migrants that I’ve come across, that I’m aware of.”

On December 17, the Mayor of El Paso, Oscar Leeser, issued a state of emergency due to that crisis. According to the El Paso Times, “El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency in response to the worsening migrant crisis, which has left scores sleeping on the streets in recent days.”

The Arctic chill across the country has resulted in hazardous conditions, with temperatures below freezing in the city. Those conditions caused Leeser to issue a state of emergency according to that same report from the El Paso Times.

The city recently moved the annual Sun Bowl Fan Fiesta and Battle of the Bands from the El Pasto Convention Center to Fort Bliss according to ABC 7 KVIA in El Paso, who reported on that news on Christmas.

As of now, there seems to be no indication that the Sun Bowl will see a similar fate.

[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022