By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Some of the Haitian immigrants who crossed the Rio Grande and found themselves in a camp under the Del Rio International Bridge are now being processed through the non-governmental migrant center.
The migrant processing center, located in the city’s Chihuahua Neighborhood Facility off Las Vacas Street, has seen a steady flow of Haitian families since the latest surge of immigrants began last week, according to Tiffany Burrow, director of operations for the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition.
Burrow told the 830 Times Monday the individuals being moved through the center now are mostly members of the most recent Haitian surge.
“We’re seeing a bigger volume of people, for sure, and that really started today. So even though it’s been going on under the bridge for a little over a week, we’ve been receiving all through that time, seven days a week, but the volume definitely increased today,” Burrow said.
Burrow said the individuals in the facility Monday were “from under the bridge, from several different Customs and Border Protection stations and from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).”
Burrow said she has been deeply moved by the generosity of the local community toward immigrants passing through the migrant center.
“The community has been incredible, very supportive. I have seen random acts of kindness that have really warmed my heart, from people here in Del Rio who have gone out of their way to provide comfort to a family or even something like a person giving M&M’s candies to children,” she said.
“So on our website, we’ve got a clover ‘give’ donation button and then we also have an Amazon wish list which is being updated daily, and people can access that through our website, which is vvbhcoalition.com,” Burrow said.
She also emphasized the center is not receiving any clothing at this time because storage space at the facility is very limited.
General drop-offs are also being discouraged, she added, noting the best way to help is to visit the organization’s website and make a monetary donation or purchase an item for the group from the Amazon wish list.
“For instance, people are wanting to bring hygiene kits, and we actually have a lot of those right now. It’s hard for people to know what we do and don’t have without checking on the website,” Burrow said.
She said the coalition’s mission remains the same: to assist immigrants in obtaining transportation out of Del Rio to their final destinations in the U.S. as quickly as possible.
“We are working to move them to their final destination. We are not buying tickets for them. They are purchasing their own tickets. They have been saving for this, and they have funding. If they arrive without funds, they call family members and the family members purchase their tickets for them,” Burrow said.
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