A Florida resident paced outside a non-government migrant shelter in McAllen, Texas, on Friday hoping to see a friend’s family members. Vicky, who did not want to provide a last name, expressed displeasure at the disorganized conditions at the shelter, the spreading of COVID-19, and the lack of information needed to locate the family members inside.
Vicky spoke with Breitbart Texas outside the shelter and described her frustration in finding out local hotels in the area are housing COVID-positive migrants while not informing other guests. She spoke about multiple failed attempts to find her friend’s family who recently called them from the shelter for assistance. She says the situation is disorganized and that conditions in the shelter are overcrowded.
Migrants released by Border Patrol in McAllen, Texas, wait in line to enter an overcrowded Catholic Charities shelter (Photo: Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas)
Much like the Border Patrol, the local shelter run by Catholic Charities in downtown McAllen appeared overwhelmed on Friday. The migrants, recently released by the Border Patrol, waited outside on the sidewalks to gain entry.
Migrants families, including small children, wait for entry to a Catholic Charities shelter after being released by Border Patrol (Photo: Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas)
Families with small children stood outside the shelter and patiently waited for a room to become available inside the shelter as local shoppers watched. Commercial vans and taxis hustled to take migrants to hotels in the area as the Border Patrol contract buses continued to drop off more migrants in a revolving door fashion.
Contractors deliver migrant families released by Border Patrol officials to an overcrowded Catholic Charities shelter in McAllen, Texas. (Photo: Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas)
One Venezuelan family spoke to Breitbart Texas and said they crossed the Rio Grande River near McAllen on Thursday. The young man says he, along with his wife and baby, is headed to South Carolina where they have relatives waiting for them. He says he knows nothing about the shelter or what he will be told inside. When asked when he would be leaving the border area and by what means he said, “I don’t know, we’ll see what they say when we get inside.”
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.