Annunciation House: ICE releasing migrants into El Paso’s streets unacceptable – never again

The director of Annunciation House, a shelter that works with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house migrants seeking asylum in the US, said the recent release of hundreds of migrants into the streets of El Paso is “unacceptable” and must not happen again.

“It is unacceptable to release families with young children into the streets. That is non-negotiable. That is simply not acceptable,” said Ruben Garcia, the executive director of Annunciation House, “Whatever pressure exists, we have to find a system that ensures families are not released into the streets.”

Garcia further stated, “Any explanation by ICE is to us not acceptable. They have to set up a meeting so we get together to find a solution.”

Garcia recently told ABC-7 his shelter receives in between 2,200 and 2,300 asylum seekers every week. ICE has worked together with Annunciation House over the past five years to receive migrants seeking asylum. The shelter helps the migrants reach relatives and sponsor families across the US.

“The communication system between Annunciation House and ICE has facilitated the process of orderly releases,” said Garcia, “I’m calling upon ICE and CBP to commit themselves to ensuring that – never again – will families be released to the streets. We hope that is something that will never again be implemented and left in the past.”

Garcia said he received a call from El Paso Police Sunday night. He learned ICE had released more than 200 migrants – all family units with young children – into the streets of Downtown El Paso near the Greyhound bus station.

Annunciation House was not aware ICE was going to release the migrants Sunday night. When the migrants arrived at the Greyhound bus station, a representative with the company called police for help, Garcia said.

The Office of Emergency Management eventually intervened and placed the families in Sun Metro buses until they figured out what to do with them. At about 2 a..m. Monday, they were able to get rooms for the families at an El Paso hotel.

Hundreds more migrants were released on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Garcia said. Annunciation House was able to secure additional hotels to house the migrants. The Annunciation House estimates it is spending $150,000 a month for motel rooms because there isn’t enough shelter space.

522 migrants were released on Wednesday, December 26, 2018. Eleven hospitality centers had to be activated to house those migrants, Garcia said.

The shelter’s director said the release of migrant families prior to this past week had been “utterly and totally normal.” ICE officials meet with Annunciation House on a weekly basis to learn about its capacity and the capacity of its satellite hospitality sites.

Garcia explained Annunciation House works with 15 different hospitality sites in El Paso and five in the Las Cruces area. While not all hospitality sites receive refugees every day, some receive migrants 24/7, Garcia said. All of those sites are in El Paso.

“Because of the flow of migrants, which has varied, we have had to make use of four hotels where we put refugee families while we assist them in being able to move on,” Garcia said, “The volume of families arriving at the border is part of what affects the dynamic of what happens here in El Paso and Juarez. El Paso is within the immigration sector that includes the state of New Mexico and West Texas. Individuals released in El Paso may have been apprehended anywhere in that region.”

Garcia said the CBP commissioner this week told a senate committee that Border Patrol holding cells were designed to hold single males, not family units with children. “That dynamic has changed over the past 4-5 years with the arrival of migrant families,” said Garcia, “They are putting these families into these small holding cells. It is inappropriate.”

Garcia said the outdated holding cells create a problem for CBP and ICE, who are then forced to release families “as quickly as possible.” That, in turn, creates more pressure for organizations like Annunciation House.

The goal of Annunciation House is to be able to house 3,000 refugees per week at its main shelter. That will begin to create “equilibrium” and possibly keep ICE from releasing more migrants into the streets, Garcia said.

The Associated Press reports, that by its own regulations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is supposed to detain people for no more than 72 hours before turning them over to other government agencies responsible for long-term detention. CBP facilities are typically spartan, with food, water and blankets but often no medical professionals, teachers or some of the other resources longer-term detention centers offer.

The U.S. government’s system for detaining migrants crossing the border is severely overtaxed, the AP reports. Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen on Wednesday blamed “a system that prevents parents who bring their children on a dangerous illegal journey from facing consequences for their actions.” Her department argues that it must detain more people to discourage other Central American families from trying to migrate.

Earlier this week, ICE released the following statement in regards to the sudden release of the migrants:

“After decades of inaction by Congress, the government remains severely constrained in its ability to detain and promptly remove families with no legal basis to remain in the U.S. To mitigate the risk of holding family units past the timeframe allotted to the government, ICE has curtailed reviews of post-release plans from families apprehended along the southwest border. ICE is redoubling its efforts to work with local and state officials and NGO partners in the area so they are prepared to provide assistance with transportation or other services.”