HARLINGEN — Two area shelters Tuesday were making room for pregnant migrants coming as part of the Central American influx seeking asylum in the United States.
Along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Rio Grande Valley has become the main corridor for migrants traveling from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.
On Tuesday, a non-profit group dropped off 20 migrants at La Posada Providencia in San Benito, Magna Bolland, the shelter’s executive director, said, adding she didn’t have information readily available to determine the number of Central Americans in the group.
Meanwhile, the shelter could make room for as many as 10 pregnant women, she said.
“She was looking for somewhere with privacy,” Bolland said, referring to a doctor representing the Brownsville non-profit group. “Other shelters where they’re being released don’t have as much privacy. We have separate rooms. It’s very homey and that’s what they want for the mothers.”
Since last month, the shelter has opened its doors to a growing number of Central American migrants, Bolland said, adding it helped about 100 last month.
“This month is going to be the same or double,” she said.
From March 1 to 12, the shelter helped 70 migrants, including Central Americans whose family members helped them catch buses or planes as they made their way into the United States to await immigration court hearings on their asylum claims.
Loaves and Fishes making room for pregnant migrants
In Harlingen, Loaves and Fishes was waiting for the Brownsville non-profit group to drop off pregnant Central American migrants as early as today, Melissa Gutierrez, the agency’s office manager, said.
“They want to use Loaves and Fishes so they can have more privacy and better cots,” she said, adding the shelter could make room for as many as 40 migrants.
As part of an agreement with the city of Harlingen, the agency can move more migrants to the city’s community center on Madison Avenue, which can house as many as 500, Gutierrez said.
Last month, city commissioners set aside $50,000 to help Loaves and Fishes feed, shelter and transport migrants while giving City Manager Dan Serna authority to give the agency an additional $25,000 through the end of the year.
Testing for COVID-19
Meanwhile, Loaves and Fishes has made plans to handle migrants testing positive for the coronavirus.
The U.S. Border Patrol is not testing migrants for COVID-19 after arresting them, Bolland said.
“They have stated they don’t have the capacity,” she said, referring to agents who arrest migrants before releasing them.
So non-profit groups are testing migrants for COVID-19 before dropping them off at La Posada, Bolland said.
“When someone’s arriving, we put them in quarantine for three days and observe them for any symptoms just in case,” she said.
In Harlingen, Loaves and Fishes has been testing migrants for COVID-19, booking hotel rooms to house those testing positive.
“We have a verbal agreement with a hotel,” Gutierrez said. “If any test positive, we can send them that way. They have 30 to 40 rooms for us.”
On Feb. 18, the Border Patrol released 49 migrants to Loaves and Fishes, which found eight testing positive for the virus, Bill Reagan, the agency’s executive director, said, adding his staff took the infected migrants to hotel rooms.
The next day, agents released 26 migrants to Loaves and Fishes at about 5 p.m., leaving the shelter’s staff without time to test them for the virus, he said, adding workers booked the group into about 20 hotel rooms.
Officials say migrants leave shortly after their arrival, when family members help them catch buses or planes into the United States to await immigration court hearings on asylum claims.
Main migrant corridor
For years, the Valley has remained the main corridor for Central American migrants entering the United States.
Since last year, the number of migrants crossing the border has about doubled, Border Patrol statistics show.
From October through February, agents arrested 11,242 migrant children traveling without parents or guardians in the region compared with 5,242 last year, statistics show.
In the Raymondville area, a shelter was housing about 300 migrant children last week, Raymondville Mayor Gilbert Gonzales said.
In Cameron County, non-profit groups under federal contracts to house migrant children include Southwest Key, BCFS and Comprehensive Health Services.
From October through February, Border Patrol agents arrested 16,583 family units in the area compared with 8,129 last year.
Meanwhile, agents arrested 69,283 migrants traveling alone in the area, compared with 25,933 the year before.
