US Rep. Gonzalez announces $18M in funding for Valley migrant services

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Vicente Gonzalez (Courtesy: Congressman Vicente Gonzalez/Facebook)

South Texas border communities that offer services to migrants will be receiving additional support from the federal government in the form of nearly $18 million.

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Brownsville, announced Tuesday that an additional $17,955,991 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Shelter and Services Program (SSP) will go toward those border communities and entities that are providing humanitarian services to migrants.

According to a news release, the funding is an addition to the $17,759,130 that was announced for South Texas in April through the SSP.

“Although there has been a significant decline in migrant encounters since President Biden’s executive order in June of this year, our local governments and organizations must be prepared to offer vital services during any future surge,” Gonzalez said in the news release.

People line up inside and outside the migrant welcome center across from the bus station in Brownsville, Texas, on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. Volunteers from Team Brownville at the center handed out food and necessities, like toothpaste and socks, to migrants that U.S. officials detained and released across the street. Most of Friday’s group said they were from Nicaragua, with a few from the Dominican Republic. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

“I am pleased to announce this additional funding that will support the safe, orderly, and humane management of incoming migrants,” he continued. “Our communities should not alone bear the logistical and financial burden of an issue that affects our entire nation.”

According to the release, there will be three entities in South Texas receiving the additional SSP funding. They include Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, which will receive $8,788,186; the city of Brownsville, which will receive $5,877,016; and Good Neighbor Settlement House, which will receive $3,290,789.

The three entities will now join the other South Texas entities that received SSP funding in April.

Those entities included the city of McAllen, which received $3,921,965; Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville, which received $216,000; the city of Brownsville, which received $1,921,965; the Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center, which received $350,000; Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, which received $7,421,965; Good Neighbor Settlement House, which received $1,636,235; the Salvation Army Corps Center, which received $615,000; La Posada Providencia, which received $1,100,000; and Team Brownsville, which received $360,000.

“Both the previous funding in April and the recently announced additional funding were authorized through the Fiscal Year 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which Congressman Gonzalez voted for,” the new release stated. “The additional funding totals over $380 million nationwide in unprecedented supplemental support through the SSP program.”

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