Brownsville assistance centers need donations, despite fewer migrants

MGN Online

Posted: Wednesday, July 23, 2014 9:51 pm

BY TY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER

Congress has yet to signal it will act to address the influx of Central American immigrants in the Rio Grande Valley before the August recess Wednesday, even as officials close to the situation have said the flow of migrants through charity-run assistance centers in the Rio Grande Valley has slowed.

Volunteers at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral center in downtown Brownsville said that they were helping between 18 and 20 people per day, down from a month ago when daily totals were between 80 and 100.

In McAllen, where the bulk of apprehensions have occurred, the numbers hover at about 200 daily.

Brownsville has been the overflow destination for U.S. Customs and Border Protection ever since an influx of undocumented immigrants began overwhelming Border Patrol agents across the Rio Grande Valley Sector.

This dip in the daily use of the Brownsville assistance center began last week, prompting volunteers to suggest it was due to multiple derailments of “La Bestia,” a Mexican cross-country freight train that has emerged as the method-of-choice for Central American refugees fleeing violence in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

While the pace of activity has slackened slightly at the border, however, talk in Washington has continued to intensify, even as other foreign policy matters continue to dominate headlines this week.

Gov. Rick Perry’s announced deployment of 1,000 National Guard troops to the border Monday prompted responses from elected officials throughout the federal government, and House Democrat leaders are set to meet with Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez and other South Texas officials on Capitol Hill this afternoon to talk about the situation.

Republicans have continued to talk about border security while Democrats have rallied behind a 2008 human trafficking law that has become the center of the debate.

That law provides that each unaccompanied Central American child apprehended by Border Patrol is to be turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services, which finds a suitable home for each child where he or she awaits an immigration hearing.

A bill put forth by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, aims to expedite the process by removing the exception for children from noncontiguous countries, among other things.

Republicans have backed that move, but Democrats have asked that the exception be given to Mexican children as well, furthering another chasm in the debate.

Meanwhile, a contingent of faith leaders has publicly suggested that the law be preserved and followed in full.

“Expedited processing risks diminishing due process and mistakes on legitimate asylum claims,” The Texas Catholic Bishops said in a statement.

Brownsville Bishop Daniel E. Flores toured migrant detention facilities in McAllen and San Antonio Tuesday along with top Southern Baptist Convention leaders.

The church leaders all suggested that the safety of the children be prioritized, with Flores noting the unspeakable atrocities the children have seen and experienced during their dangerous and often criminal-led journey across Mexico.

“We share a common concern to make sure that the human face of Christ, seen in those who suffer, is attended to with great respect,” he said of the group of leaders, which included the president of the Southern Baptist Convention. “These young people have seen a lot — more, perhaps, than is wise to ask about all at once. Yet they have a certain sense of hope that allows them to move forward with determination.”

Jim Richards, the executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, said caring for the children was divine work.

“It is our obligation under the Gospel to minister to them and help them, regardless of the circumstance sin which they came, or their future,” he said. “Our main concern is to care for the children.”

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