oliticians tried Sunday to avoid mass expulsions of millions of Americans struggling financially, after the deadline for suspending the expulsions that had protected them expired.

As of Saturday, millions of American families faced the risk of being evicted from their homes, not being able to pay rent for several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are at risk of expulsion," Samantha Payet and Andrew Martinez, of Aurora, Colorado, told KDVR.

The two partners plan to move with their two children temporarily to land they own. The family expects to "live in tents with a wood-burning stove in the winter," Andrew said.

More than 10 million people have not paid their rent, according to estimates by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, an independent research institute.

About 3.6 million tenants consider themselves threatened with eviction from their homes within two months, according to a study by the Statistics Office that included 51 million tenants in early July.

The deadline for suspending evictions of tenants, which has been extended several times, expired at midnight on Saturday. That deadline was given for health reasons related to the pandemic.

President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday to extend the suspension period, but his move faced criticism, as many took him to wait until the last minute to act.

This stalemate sparked widespread criticism among Democratic officials on Sunday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a number of other Democratic officials called on Biden to extend the suspension of expulsions, considering that it was a "moral" duty so that people would not become homeless, according to what they announced in a joint statement.

Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized the Biden administration for waiting until the last minute to ask Congress to act, arguing that it would be unfair to fire tenants at a time when there are many billions of dollars left unspent to solve, at least partially, the problem of unpaid rents.