By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Larger numbers of migrants is fast becoming the new normal at the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition’s migrant processing center here.
Tiffany Burrow, director of operations for the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition, took a short break from her duties at the migrant processing center Friday to update the 830 Times on recent operations.
“We’re getting into a little bit of a rhythm here. The rhythm is bigger numbers, but we’re receiving lots of wonderful support from the community, as well as volunteers, not just from Del Rio, but from as far away as Brackettville,” Burrow said.
She paused our interview to introduce this reporter to Teri and Jack Marsh, the aforementioned Brackettville volunteers, who were busy putting together activity packages for immigrant children.
While I exchanged pleasantries with the Marshes, another volunteer stopped by to drop off several hundred peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to be handed out to migrant families.
“Those’ll go fast,” Burrow noted.
She said the migrant processing center, which operates out of a portion of the city’s Chihuahua Neighborhood Facility on Las Vacas Street, is still seeing large groups of single men and women and continues to see large groups of families.
“This morning we had a large group of both, singles, and we just had several couples, and now a big group of 65 is coming in a little bit later this morning,” Burrow said, adding the group of 65 persons would be mostly families.
Burrow said she and the other volunteers who staff the center are still assisting the migrants in leaving Del Rio as quickly as possible.
“When I have this many groups in the morning, we maximize all of our transportation options, which includes our train that comes three days a week, and it comes in the middle of the night, 1 a.m., and the families just sit out there on that plywood deck and wait for it.
“We utilize the train, we utilize Greyhound (buses), and we also maximize the flights from the airport. Right now, we’re several days out full, so, for instance, you couldn’t get a plane ticket for later today,” she said.
Burrow said charter buses are also being used.
“In that mix; not every day, we are also putting in charters that families pay for, and they go to different locations. For instance, we had a charter yesterday that went to El Paso, direct from here. Once they got to El Paso, they went to the brand new migrant shelter they have there, and there they have the option to spend the night or they can go straight on to the airport there,” Burrow said.
One of the unique aspects of the new El Paso shelter, Burrow added, is that it features a COVID testing site.
“That’s something we’re not able to do here, so over there, they go in, they test, and they have a place for people who test positive, and the others can carry on,” she said.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
