Migrant shelters in Texas that previously housed nearly 1,000 people a day at the height of the border crisis are now almost empty following actions by the Trump administration that have effectively sealed the border.
According to The Texas Tribune, the shelters, which are located primarily along the state's border with Mexico, reported a dramatic drop in the number of people using their facilities since Trump returned to the White House in January, with some expected to close in the coming weeks.
Officials in McAllen, Texas, reported that an average of fewer than 12 people per day have been arriving at the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley respite center this month. The shelter is on track to receive fewer than 350 people in February, down from 3,188 in January.
Migrants are dropped off at the shelters by Customs and Border Protection after being processed by immigration officials and given a notice to appear for their immigration court date at a later point in time. Shelter staff provide them with food and a roof over their head until they set out for their final U.S. destination.
Ruben Garcia, the director of an El Paso-based migrant shelter network called Annunciation House, told the Tribune that there are approximately 40 people currently staying in the shelters.
Because of the reduced migrant numbers, Garcia said that only four of the more than 20 network shelters are open at this time and he will likely shutter more by the end of the month. Ultimately, only one or two will remain open, he said.
Garcia told the outlet that most of the sites were closed last year in the waning months of the Biden administration, as the number of arrivals began to slow due to then-President Joe Biden's executive order that denied asylum to migrants who crossed into the country between ports of entry. The Mexican government also reportedly made more of an effort to crack down on illegal border crossing at that time.
Annunciation House received a daily average of 250 to 300 people while Biden was still in office, Garcia said, noting that those numbers were low for the shelter network.
"Even before the election, the numbers were already significantly down," Garcia said.
A drop in arrivals last year also led to the closure of another El Paso shelter, Casa del Sagrado Corazon, according to director Michael Debruhl.
In San Antonio, staff at the Migrant Resource Center told the Tribune the shelter stopped accepting new migrants last week because of low demand.
At the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley respite center in McAllen, the reduced numbers had prompted staffing cuts even before the notification came on Jan. 30 that the facility would no longer receive federal funding.
"As it is, we were already cutting down staff because we don't have people come in anymore or the numbers are very, very low, like 10 or five," said Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of RGV Catholic Charities.
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