By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Officials at the migrant processing center in Del Rio are bracing for the cold start of winter and anticipating the possible influx of more people.
Tiffany Burrow, director of operations for the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition’s migrant processing center in south Del Rio, spoke with the 830 Times Dec. 20 about the colder-than-average forecast for the Christmas holiday weekend and the possible end of Title 42.
Temperatures dipped into the 20’s during the Christmas weekend but have since returned to the mid-60’s. They are expected to climb into the high 70’s over the New Year’s Day weekend before dropping back into highs in the 60’s and lows in the 40’s beginning Thursday.
She also looked back on the number of migrants who have passed through the center in 2022.
“To put it into perspective, last year we served 23,000; this year we doubled it,” Burrow said.
Burrow reiterated the role of the migrant processing center is to move migrants out of Val Verde County.
“People are released and brought to us from Border Patrol. They’re with us for a very short amount of time. We relay what sort of transportation options are available to them, and they change every day. Then they make their decision of what (mode of transportation) fits their situation best, and they either purchase tickets themselves, with money they’ve brought with them, or their family members purchase tickets for them,” she said.
Burrow repeated, as she has done many times in the past, that the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition does not purchase tickets for migrants or provide the migrants with cash, cell phones or housing vouchers.
“Nothing like that. Nothing. We give them a banana and a granola bar, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some water. Really, that’s what it boils down to,” Burrow said.
Asked if the center is still seeing family groups, she gestured at the men and women sitting on picnic tables outside the center.
“It’s kind of deceiving in that all the people you see here today are adults, what we would call singles, but the truth of the matter is, more than likely they’ve been separated from their other family members, and there’s such a volume and a delay, so not all members of the same family are necessarily released at the same time,” she said.
“There are definitely singles, but there are also a lot of people that are part of families traveling, but that are just not together at the moment,” Burrow added.
Burrow said the most pressing need at the center right now is for winter coats and jackets.
“I am incredibly concerned right now about the weather,” Burrow said.
“We have coat drives going on throughout the state of Texas right now, and I don’t think we will come close to having enough. The top items people are asking for right now are hats, scarves and coats. That’s the real need right now,” she added.
Burrow said in preparation for this weekend’s forecasted below-normal temperatures, several volunteers have helped winterize the outside pipes and water hoses at the processing center.
“But as far as donations, if people would like to drop (coats and jackets) off, they can come by the center anytime in the morning,” she said.
Burrow also spoke about the expected end of Title 42 in the near future. Title 42, a pandemic policy enacted by the federal government, makes it easier to deport immigrants for health reasons.
Asked if she was making any type of changes or simply taking the situation one day at a time, Burrow said, “You said it. It’s always been one day at time, with only a little bit of an eye on the future, as far as preparations go. We continue to stay steady in our assistance to migrants coming through, although we’re seeing a lot, we are not at capacity at this time.
“I don’t want to say there’s room to grow, but we do have a little room,” she added.
Burrow said about 400 migrants a day pass through the processing center on Las Vacas Street.
“Should Title 42 go away, I would expect to see numbers considerably higher than that. We know what is available, transportation-wise, so it’s an extra challenge (if numbers go higher.) It’s an extra challenge with the weather. It’s an extra challenge because it’s Christmas week, when transportation seats are at a premium, and not a lot are available,” she said.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
