Volunteers provide care, shelter to incoming immigrants

The child whose dull eyes came alive when a shelter volunteer handed her a floppy-eared, pink bunny doll does not know she and her mother, who crossed the border with her,are in the middle of a political firestorm.

And Ofelia De Los Santos, a public information officer withCatholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, wants to keep it that way. The latest surge of undocumented immigrants pouring across the border in South Texas has furtherpolarized a country already grappling with immigration reform and border security. Republicans are demanding answers from President Obama, saying that his administration’s policies are responsible for the surge of migrants, mostof themfrom Central America.

Obama, calling the surge a humanitarian crisis, has ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate an effort to maintain detention centers for unaccompanied minorsand help reunite them with relatives in this country. His administration is also moving to send more assistance to Central American countries.But the administration, conceding thatmisinformation about itspolicies hashelped drive the surge,hasmoved to detain more migrants and to deport them more quickly.

What is happening in McAllen, a busy gathering point near the border where many residents have responded to help the migrants,is just asnapshot;similar relief efforts are underway in cities alongTexas’ southern border. Since October, the Border Patrol has apprehended more than 160,000 undocumented immigrants in its Rio Grande Valley Sector and more than 33,500 unaccompanied minors in Texas.

Politics are left at the door at McAllen’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church, a border parish where more than a thousand of therecently detained migrants, many fleeing violence in their countries, have been taken for temporary food and shelter after being orderedto appear in immigration court.

“All of that is irrelevant,” De Los Santos said of the political volleying. “For us, we just want to serve.”

Volunteers here helparrangemedical appointments for immigrants being released from detention,and preparetravel bags for those facing long bus rides to stay with friends and relatives in the United States while awaiting their court dates in places like Chicago, Miami, New York and Miami.Most of the immigrants are women traveling with young children, including infants wearing nothing but diapers afterdays in detention.

Until a few weeks ago, themigrants were simply dropped off at McAllen’s downtown bus station after being processed. Volunteers from the local diocese showed up with food and offered what they could, fillingtheir cars with toiletriesand clothing.

Then the situation worsened.

The number of immigrants flooding the bus station increased so muchthat the volunteers called Sister Norma Pimentel, the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. “They said, ‘This is too much, this is not a location for them,'”said Brenda Riojas, the diocese’s public information officer.

In other Texas cities, shelters and churches were warnedabout the influx.In El Paso, officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement asked shelters to provide temporary housing, food and perhaps a change of clothes before undocumentedimmigrants boarded buses or planes.

That was not the case in McAllen, volunteers there say.

Still, a makeshift shelter quickly sprang to life. City and county officials helped with logistics and security and wereupdated regularly. The Salvation Army sent food. All took their cues from the Catholic Charities volunteers.

When asked if Catholic Charities was in charge of the operation, Julia Sullivan, Hidalgo County’s director of public affairs, said: “Yes, as it should be. It’s their facility.” She added that she was not aware of federal officials reaching out to local officialsto alert them about the surge.

De Los Santos does not know how long Catholic Charities’help will be needed. But she said the organization wasprepared for the long haul. She also wonders how long the community support will continue. She has receivedhate mail, she said.

“We get calls to the office with people saying, ‘What are you all doing? You’re encouraging them,'” she said.

She is bothered lessby thosecritics than by saying goodbye to the immigrants she has helped. As dozensleft the church for the bus station, Ms. De Los Santos stood waving, tears streaming down her face.

“I cry every time,” she said.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/27/shelter-short/.