By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
The director of operations of the migrant processing center in Del Rio got a taste of the migrants’ journey last week when she took a bus to Washington, D.C.
Tiffany Burrow, director of operations for the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition’s migrant processing center in south Del Rio, called the experience “incredible.”
“I took the D.C. state bus with the migrants all the way from Del Rio to Washington, D.C.,” Burrow told the 830 Times in an interview Wednesday.
The “state buses” are those ordered by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to take immigrants, who have crossed the border illegally and seeking asylum in the United States, from several points on the Texas-Mexico border to Washington, D.C.
Decried by some as political theater, the buses have provided a real transportation alternative for immigrants whose final destinations in the U.S. lie in the northeastern portions of the country.
Burrow explained how her bus trip came about.
“In the very beginning, when TDEM (the Texas Department of Emergency Management) reached out, we had a meeting and at that time, (they) said if I needed to see what this looks like, with my own eyes, that it could happen, and as we progressed into the rhythm of it, I could see that this was something I needed to experience firsthand,” Burrow said.
She left Del Rio on Thursday, April 28, and arrived in the nation’s capital 36 hours later.
“I flew home into Del Rio late Sunday night (May 1),” she said.
Burrow said she is very glad she made the long trip and noted it has given her insights about the migrants’ experience.
“It just was incredibly helpful, to be able to see the strengths, the limitations, the challenges, on the D.C. side,” Burrow said when asked to describe the trip.
“They’re not familiar with border shelters in D.C., so it’s not one single organization that receives the people (getting off the buses), it’s the community that’s stepping up, and it’s a patchwork of organizations that are doing their best to accommodate and make it work and join in solidarity with the migrants that are arriving,” Burrow said.
She emphasized there is nothing like Del Rio’s migrant processing center in Washington: a single location where migrants can find respite and assistance as they continue their journeys.
“It’s very different, and I couldn’t have pictured it unless I’d gone and seen for myself,” she added.
Burrow also described the trip itself.
“Every bus has a security detail, and drivers are switched out. On my trip, I had three driver switches,” she said.
The migrants taking the bus are treated well, she added.
“The migrants are treated with dignity and compassion,” Burrow said.
Burrow said the state buses are a stopgap measure that is, for now, working as well as it can.
“There is some fine-tuning that needs to happen, for sure, and it is incredible, what they have been able to create in a short period of time, but I don’t think that it’s built to sustain, and it’s not built for an increase in numbers, and I’m fairly certain we’re going to be seeing an increase in numbers,” Burrow said.
Burrow said she is still expecting large increases in the numbers of migrants moving through Del Rio before the end of the month.
“In fact, the Salvation Army did a tremendous delivery this morning (Wednesday), of Nutrigrain bars and cereal and some juice, and we’re incredibly grateful for their donations,” she said.
Speaking again about her trip to Washington, Burrow said there is some work she and the volunteers at the migrant processing center will be doing to better prepare the migrants for their journey to that part of the United States.
“So, they are used to being in warm weather. They are not used to the cold, and a lot of our folks coming through only have flip-flops, so on our end, we really need to build up our tennis shoes we have on hand, and currently we’re out of women’s socks, and that’s something they need if they’re going to be going on that bus. They will need shoes and socks,” Burrow said.
“I’m still watching to see how this will evolve,” she added.
Del Rioans who would like to make monetary donations to the migrant processing center can visit the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition’s web site or Facebook page.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
