maclean city, Texas The border crossing was forced to build a makeshift tent city to operate as a shelter for migrants to test and treat for COVID-19 – but the city’s beleaguered mayor says the number of migrants infected with the virus is Not enough to stop the flow from flooding their community. .
“Initially I didn’t see it as a problem because it was under control,” Mayor Javier Villalobos told CBS this morning. ‘I saw no correlation in the increase in COVID in my community and immigrants because they were isolated.’
‘Now I think there is a problem because they are running positive or non-positive … and we have no right to stop it.’
Migrants are first processed under the Anzalduas International Bridge before leaving for a COVID testing facility in Anzalduas Park, a temporary Border Patrol ‘facility’ that has recently come under fire by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Migrants are first brought to a Customs and Border Patrol processing facility under the Anjaldua Bridge
Maclean’s Mayor Javier Villalobos said migrants are being released in their city whether they test positive for COVID
Migrants being taken to an emergency shelter facility in Anzalduas Park, near the cities of McAllen and Mission
The group is urging the Biden White House to shut down ‘inhumane detention centers’ and ‘outdoor pens’, claiming it presents imminent health and safety risks to migrants held there.
“We are calling on the Biden administration to immediately close the site and implement surveillance measures to keep the Border Patrol in such inhumane conditions,” he said on Monday.
The facility sparked outrage after a video emerged last week showing nearly a thousand migrants being held under a bridge.
A Fox News correspondent tweeted the drone video with the caption, “This is the largest group of migrants we have ever seen captured by the Border Patrol under the Anjalduas Bridge in Mission, TX. Looks like it could be up to 1,000 people.
New York Republican Representative Alice Stefnik called the area “absolute devastation” after the footage was released.
The COVID surge in Texas is largely driven by uninsured Americans – but there is growing concern that the migrant crisis could complicate the issue.@cbsmireya Received exclusive access to a temporary emergency shelter set up to test and treat migrants who have COVID. pic.twitter.com/wZqOMZPOMK
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) 10 August 2021
Anzalduas Bridge runs through parts of the US and Mexico. ACLU calls border patrol facility ‘inhuman’ and ‘pen’ for migrants there
A video showing hundreds of migrants being held under a bridge sparked outrage against the Biden administration for allowing it
More than 7,000 migrants sent to McAllen since February have tested positive for COVID.
Catholic Charities, a non-profit aimed at helping migrants in these situations, collaborated with city officials to build a tent city in Anjalduas Park after an influx of migrants in recent months proved too much for existing infrastructure. Worked.
“It’s gotten to a point where that space isn’t even really available, because there are too many of them,” Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, told The Morning Show.
The border town implemented a disaster declaration after weeks of border patrol officers disembarking about 1,800 migrants per day – some of whom are testing positive for COVID.
About 210,000 migrants were apprehended at the border in July – a 21-year high that drew criticism from Republican governors such as Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott to Joe Biden.
Villalobos said he agreed with fellow Republicans when the huge influx changed his mind.
Migrants are seen camping in a temporary facility under the Anzalduas Bridge in March
“It’s too burdensome for our county, our city — and we don’t budget for it, we don’t deal with immigration, and we shouldn’t,” he said.
One of the biggest concerns of the authorities is that they do not have the authority to keep the migrants in isolation.
McAllen’s residents are also angered by the influx of migrants being sent into the community, and Villalobos addressed them in a video last week and asked them to place the blame on the Biden administration – ensuring that immigration should not be a municipal issue.
He is not the first mayor to call on the president or federal lawmakers on communities affected by the border crisis.
A new report says encounters on the border reached 210,000 in July alone
Laredo, Texas Mayor Pete Sainz said on Friday that the city’s current arrangement with Border Patrol officers is costing his constituents $8,000 a day — and pleaded for help. Joe Biden‘s white House have fallen on ‘deaf ears’.
“Note, if we can’t get reimbursement, obviously it’s not sustainable and at some point we have to stop it and look for other relief,” Sainz said. KGNS.
He estimated that the city could go ‘about a month’ without paying back.
“By then, we’re hoping, maybe the Biden administration will look at the border and stop it,” he said.
Sainz accused the federal government of “not really taking action” despite repeated requests for help.
“For months I’ve been shouting, ‘Federal government please send resources, resources,’ but so far it’s been a deaf ear and it’s become so complicated and we end up with these crises,” Sainz said.
And not just a crisis – he said the situation in his city is now a ‘triple crisis’.
Laredo, Texas Mayor Pete Sainz says his city is now facing a ‘triple crisis’
Sainz accused the Biden administration of not doing enough to help – saying the federal government is the only body with enough money and resources to find a solution
“We have a border crisis, a health crisis and a humanitarian crisis – so it is on us and we are doing our best,” he said.
The new deal sees migrants caught in the Rio Grande Valley being processed at Laredo before being taken from a private company to a facility leased by the city.
Laredo would then introduce a bill to send migrants to various cities within Texas.
Saenz said he believes there is ‘a good chance’ Laredo could eventually be reimbursed and called it the ‘best course of action’, at least ‘at the moment’.
Sainz said the arrangement was intended to send migrants to “big centres” such as Houston and Dallas.
The mayor also said it was the least expensive route to the city, despite the hefty price tag to taxpayers, against the backdrop of a growing number of migrants arriving at the US southern border.
Migrants are resettled from Laredo to other Texas cities at a cost of $8,000 a day to taxpayers – an arrangement the mayor said could last perhaps a month without reimbursement (Picture: asylum seekers vaccinated in Baja California on August 3 line up for)
Before the settlement was reached, Laredo was engaged in a lawsuit against the US to try and prevent migrants from being taken into the city.
But after a judge asked for more information, city officials decided that was not enough time to go through the long legal path and made their deal with the Border Patrol.
“We decided that the best option for us – course of action – would be to compromise and make this arrangement,” Sainz explained.
He said the alternative would be to let CBP and non-profit facilities run out of capacity, overflow and leave migrants ‘on the streets’.
“Of course we as a city couldn’t deal with it, I think it would be irresponsible on our part to allow it,” said the local leader. ‘So we had no choice but to group these migrants – and we can’t force them, but I can assure you all that they want to reach their destination as soon as possible – so they take these buses. Take it.’
Like other Texas local officials, Sainz said it was up to Washington to address the problem.
The newly reported numbers come after a record increase in border encounters in the months since Biden took office
‘It’s a humble act at the moment, but if anyone can do it, it’s really the federal government. I mean they have the resources,’ he said.
In addition to problems caused by overcrowded officials, the interior is being released about migrants testing positive for COVID as the delta version continues to wreak havoc and send the US back in coronavirus infection numbers that are not enough for vaccines. Wide availability has not been seen before.
McAllen, Texas Mayor Javier Villalobos said last week that 15 percent of the 1,800 migrants arriving in his city daily are COVID-positive.
Critics of the Biden White House blamed weaker enforcement of the administration’s Title 42 than Donald Trump’s for the number of virus-infected immigrants arriving within the US.
Title 42 was authorized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to allow border officials to turn asylum seekers away upon arrival to manage rising COVID cases.
Customs and Border Patrol have not yet responded to a request for comment.
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