City of El Paso to shell out $20K to help with migrant influx

The City of El Paso is joining the County and other entities in contributing funding to help nonprofit organizations addressing the massive influx of migrants crossing the border into the U.S. seeking asylum.

ABC-7 also got a better idea of just how many people are coming into El Paso, and how the number has increased dramatically in just the last few months.

During a special meeting of City Council Monday morning, city representatives voted unanimously to allocate $20,000 to fund a position that will help coordinate volunteers who are helping house, feed and transport migrants who have been processed for asylum.

The vote came about three-and-a-half hours after listening to presentations by the chief of the El Paso Fire Department, a representative from the Catholic Diocese of El Paso and Ruben Garcia, the executive director of the Annunciation House, the shelter that has been working closely with federal agencies who oversee the migrant processing procedure.

EPFD Chief Mario D’Agostino told City Council that since the beginning of the 2019 fiscal year, the City has seen more than 50,000 migrants pass through the border and seek temporary shelter at churches and hotels. Of those, 32,000 have come through since January 1, 2019. That’s compared to 12,000 in FY 2017 and 18,000 in FY 2018.

” The Annunciation House, over the past 4 to 5 months, has now paid out over a million dollars into hotels, ” Garcia told city representatives and staff members gathered in the small conference room on the second floor of City Hall in Downtown El Paso. ” We’re not going to be able to sustain that. ”

” We’re looking at a couple of very large buildings to see if we can convert them into a hospitality site, ” Garcia added, but then said, ” That is still in the works. ”

The shelter is working with 27 different churches and 9 hotels to house migrants. The $20,000 from the city would help fund a volunteer coordinator position to alleviate the strain that the Annunciation House is feeling managing all those sites.

While Garcia said his shelter isn’t asking for government funding, he is hoping that the city feels the call to help.

” Any vulnerable population that finds itself in a moment of crisis, that I would expect that our city government would respond to that, ” Garcia told reporters after his presentation. ” I think that’s the role of government. I think that’s government at its very best. ” ​​​​​​​

The mayor, meanwhile, was clearly frustrated that the local government had to step into a role that belongs to the federal government.

” The root cause is Washington, D.C., and we’re dealing with the by-products of their failure and inaction and their lack of intestinal fortitude on both sides of the aisle to deal with something that should have been dealt with many years ago, ” Dee Margo told reporters shortly after the meeting adjourned. ” I’m tired of El Paso taking it on the chin for the lack of action by our federal representatives on both sides of the aisle. ” ​​​​​​​

Margo said the city will ask the federal government for a reimbursement of the funds, which are coming from the budget that is typically reserved for community development.