Las Cruces migrant shelter operating at capacity amid surge along Southern border

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- A Las Cruces shelter that provides services for refugees and asylum seekers has been operating at capacity for the better part of two months, which is about 250 people per day.

Kyle Boyd, Director of Operations for Border Servant Corps, told ABC-7 that in a typical year, migration decreases during the summer, and increases during the fall.

He said once winter comes and it's gets cold, migration decreases again, only to rise again in the spring. "I wouldn't say that anything around here follows any kind of typical pattern, but it's not surprising that migrants arriving in the region increase in the fall," said Boyd.

He told ABC-7 that border agents are encountering larger numbers of families, which accounts for the larger number of people that are in the system at the shelter.

The current administration is instituting a new policy called CBP one, which is a legal pathway for people to cross over at certain ports of entry.

In El Paso, the Paso del Norte Port of Entry is one of those entryways. Boyd explained that typically, anywhere from 150 to 200 people will cross over through there.

"They're not in detention. They're just processed by the customs officers. And then they walk out the door like anybody else would."

Boyd added, "we operate a site where we receive them. Those folks who do need shelter, everybody doesn't need shelter. And then we bring them up here to our shelter and they stay for us while they make their onward passage."

He said that there are many people who are arriving in El Paso and in other regions that don't have resources, whether that's money to move on, or somebody to receive them at an ultimate destination. He said in many situations, their goal was simply to flee the condition they're living in, and get to the United States. "There is an increasing number of people that fit into that category," he said.

"I think we all just want to to reach out and help and treat them as as fellow humans, instead of as buzzwords or talking points," said Boyd.