Catholic Diocese asking for help taking care of Cuban migrants arriving in El Paso

More than 3,500 Cuban Migrants are expected to arrive in the United States over the next several weeks. Many are arriving in the Sun City and there’s concern over the lack of resources available to help them.

During a news conference Wednesday, the Catholic Diocese of El Paso said the situation is dire.

Bishop Mark Seitz said there is a lack of communication with state and federal agencies and the Diocese is preparing for the worst case scenario, even asking other denominations for help.

According to the Diocese, 100 Cuban migrants came to El Paso last year. So far this year, there have been 116. It is expecting more in the next four months.

The groups are flown into Juarez then transported to the bridge where they’re processed by Customs and Border Protection.

Agents check their record and make sure the have the necessary documents before releasing the migrants.

Each migrant who is a head of household is eligible to receive $445 a month, but the Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services, the only agency capable of processing them, says it doesn’t have enough funding.

Cubans are admitted to the United States if they get to the border. They have been arriving in greater numbers because they fear warming relations between the U.S. and Cuba could end the so-called “exceptional policy.”

Under this policy, a Cuban citizen arriving at a U.S. port of entry must provide proof of their Cuban citizenship such as a Cuban passport or a birth certificate.

Once citizenship is established, CBP officers ask if they are a member of the Cuban regime or if they work for the Cuban government, among other questions.

CBP officers take the person’s fingerprints and run the biometric data in national law enforcement databases. If no criminal or derogatory information is found, the person is processed for parole.

The CBP officer issues the traveler an I-94 parole document with the person’s temporary alien number written on the back. The parole document is valid for two years.

At the completion of one year after inspection and admission to the U.S., the Cuban national may apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for adjustment of status under the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act (CRAA) in order to submit an application for permanent U.S. residency.

While the Diocese said El Paso is not the migrant’s final destination, it estimates in between 10-15% of the migrants don’t have anywhere to go.

“We’re not hearing from the government agencies, who’s coming, when they’re coming, how we can work together with the agency. I don’t think anyone wants these refugees dropped off in the middle of the night to walk the streets of El Paso with no place to go, no food, no anything,” Seitz said, “We really need some communication from them here at the border, the bridge, and really from the state and federal levels.”

Bishop Seitz expressed concern because he said it will likely put a strain on local resources.

“We’re not being told who’s coming, when, we don’t know how many are planning to move through quickly, how many are planning to stay, there is zero communication,” Bishop Seitz said.

“Inside the Houchen Community Center, migrants are arriving every couple of minutes, checking in, setting up their beds and getting some rest. Officials tell Abc-7 they’re looking for flights to places like Miami and Houston. While others, have nowhere to go from here.

“They’re simply saying, well we heard of this place, we heard of Denver, let’s try that.”

There are several shelters for migrants in El Paso.The Catholic Diocese says it will ask parishes for their help with donations.

“These resources may not be enough. One of the difficulties, here is we can’t really predict.”

If you’d like to donate, you can call the Houchen Community Center at(915) 533-6445 or the Catholic Diocese at 915-872-8400.