Government and private sector officials in South Texas are happy and willing to accommodate the influx of migrants being released from overwhelmed Border Patrol stations, but they are worried about the repercussions it could have on workers and local communities.
Nongovernmental and religious organizations in Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas told Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, whose Texas district spans 200 miles of the border, there are concerns about coronavirus testing for migrants and the health of volunteers and employees.
“Those are the questions that the [nongovernmental organizations] are asking themselves, and it’s something that I have called the White House several times, had phone calls with people at the White House, to say, ‘Hey, we need for you to understand what’s happening here on the border,’” Cuellar said during the meeting in his district.
“Are we compassionate? Do we have a heart? By all means, we do,” said Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz. “We feel the first impact. We’re the first responders to any and all policies that come from, primarily from, Washington that affect the border.”
The U.S. Border Patrol’s 73 holding stations across the southern border can normally hold dozens to hundreds of people each, but in Cuellar’s district, it is keeping facilities at just 25% capacity because of how easily the virus could spread in the small holding rooms. Since last March, the large majority of people who illegally cross the border from Mexico have not been taken into custody and instead been returned south of the border within hours.
In Del Rio, Texas, agents are seeing mostly Haitian and Cubans attempting to get into the country. East, in Laredo, 73% of people encountered by Border Patrol are Mexican and mostly adult men, Cuellar said. They are turned around and immediately sent back to Mexico rather than being taken into custody and detained. However, down in the Rio Grande Valley, Central American families and children without parents are arriving in larger percentages than the other two areas.
The problem for Cuellar’s district is that two weeks ago, the Mexican state of Tamaulipas refused to take back families and young children, saying it was overwhelmed. The move meant families and children encountered by U.S. federal agents in the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo regions would have to be taken into custody, but because holding stations are unable to hold many people, agents are dropping detainees off at local shelters and bus stations after they have been processed.
The Catholic Charities Diocese of Laredo is planning to set up tents outside for migrants to stop and get a change of clothes, eat, shower, communicate with family or friends, and prepare for the journey ahead, according to Executive Director Becky Solloa. She expects to be helping up to 100 people per day come early next week, while the Rio Grande Valley location of the Catholic organization expects to be able to assist 300 people at a time, down from its normal occupancy of 1,200 people, according to a local report. It is the largest shelter on the southern border.
Pastor Michael Smith, who leads the Holding Institute community center in Laredo, said it has taken in 32 people over the past two weeks, including a pregnant woman.
“It’s a constant flow,” said Smith.
Some people might stay for a day before they take a bus to an airport or train station in a larger Texas city. Others, like a Haitian family that Smith mentioned, may stay at the shelter for a couple weeks until they have a plan for where to go next. Smith said he received a call from Border Patrol this morning to expect 16 more Haitian migrants later in the day.
Although some migrants are undergoing rapid coronavirus tests in Mexico before crossing the border, they are not tested before being released by the federal government. A negative test in Mexico does not mean a migrant has not been exposed while in Border Patrol custody.
Sister Rosemary Welsh oversees operations at the Casa de Misericordia, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, and said that despite the many concerns around this latest influx of people to the border, the community needs to “stand ready” to welcome newcomers with compassion and care.
Laredo Fire Chief Guillermo Heard said if migrant releases in the region are anything like in 2019, when 20,000 people were released, emergency responders and hospitals need to expect that they have the potential to have a major effect on hospitalization rates.
