The state will not allocate money to McAllen despite promises to reimburse the city for their involvement in providing humanitarian relief during the immigration crisis, officials said.

Immigrants crossing the Texas-Mexico border shifted heavily into the Rio Grande Valley in 2014 with the number of unaccompanied minors also soaring.

The City of McAllen quickly responded by providing costly humanitarian relief.

The cost of humanitarian efforts in the Rio Grande Valley totaled an estimated $600,000, not including money invested by Catholic Charities through the Sacred Heart Church in McAllen.

An announcement made in April showed organizations on the border that provided humanitarian aid to immigrant families and unaccompanied minors would be eligible for reimbursement through federal funds due to a provision made to the Department of Homeland Security's funding bill.

McAllen Mayor Jim Darling thought the city would be reimbursed for stepping in to do “what the federal government should have done before they released the families.” The State of Texas is now saying there just isn’t enough of that money to go around.

Texas was given over $20 million in federal funds for its state Homeland Security Grant Program, according to Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-TX.

“We put the language where you could get the reimbursement,” Cuellar said. “What we do is we give federal dollars to the state and the state makes certain decisions.” 

The state's Homeland Security Grant Program allocated $480,000 to the region, according to Darling. However, the money will go towards to local law enforcement agencies for communication expenses. Darling was told there was only $8.60 left in the account, which means there’s no money for reimbursement of expenses from the federal government.

“I thought the state was going to be in good faith effort use some of that money, and they haven’t done that,” Cuellar said. “Their priorities are a little different. I guess they don’t want to show they are using homeland security dollars to provide humanitarian care.”

Cuellar said the State of Texas decided to use the money elsewhere.

"They do have the money, and I emphasize they do,” he said. “I know the locals were told there was no money, but I’m on the appropriations committee. I talked to FEMA. They do have the money.”

The city will reevaluate its involvement if providing immigration relief becomes too much of a financial burden, Darling said.

For now, they will continue their humanitarian efforts to the best of their ability with as little impact as possible on municipal operations.

“We thought it was important that we show humanitarian response,” Darling said.

The relief effort is ongoing despite the costs of providing food, water, housing and other amenities rising.

The average number of daily guests at Sacred Heart Church last month was just over 56, but over the last ten days, the number has risen to 82.

Immigration relief has been ongoing in McAllen for over 380 days.