McAllen respite center seeing nearly ‘zero’ visitors since Trump took office
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What was once a bustling facility in downtown McAllen now sits empty.
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley Executive Director Sister Norma Pimentel said the non-profit’s respite center has seen a drop in migrants.
“Since the new administration took office… people are just not being allowed into the United States," Pimentel said.
According to Pimentel, the number of migrants being dropped off at the respite center after they’ve been processed by Border Patrol is nearly zero.
“Maybe one day we had one person, and then a couple of days nobody, and then maybe three families," Pimentel said.
President Trump has signed several executive orders to tackle illegal immigration and secure the border.
His administration also did away with the CBP One app that allowed asylum seekers to schedule appointments at ports of entry.
“We can say without a doubt it has been approximately between a 40 to 50 percent decrease from previous years,” Border Patrol RGV Sector Public Affairs Officer Andres Garcia, adding that Border Patrol agents are logging about 50 to 100 daily apprehensions.
“Last year we could easily see up to 3,000 a day depending on the situation and the sector,” Garcia said.
The drop in apprehensions goes hand in hand with what's being seen at the respite center. Because of the low amount of drop-offs, Pimentel said Catholic Charities will require less federal reimbursement.
“So if we don't have those numbers we couldn't request those reimbursements, and so those funds are not available to us then,” Pimentel said.
When asked if the respite center is at risk of closing due to less funding being requested, Pimentel issued a statement saying “the respite center will continue to be open to help the needs of the community."
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