Posted: Tuesday, August 4, 2015 8:00 am
BY KRISTIAN HERNANDEZ and SKY CHADDE | STAFF WRITERS

McALLEN — A recent uptick in unaccompanied minors and Central American families illegally crossing the Rio Grande prompted U.S. Border Patrol to meet behind closed doors Monday to address the situation.

About 20 local, state and federal law enforcement representatives and city officials met for about an hour Monday afternoon at the Border Patrol station in McAllen, said agency spokesman Omar Zamora.

Officials discussed action plans and available resources to handle the uptick and what to do if numbers continue to increase, Zamora said.

“There has been a small uptick in the past few weeks of about 200 to 350 per day,” Zamora said. “It is still about 48 percent less than what we experienced last year.”

Last summer, tens of thousands of Central American families and unaccompanied children streamed into the Rio GrandeValley — mostly HidalgoCounty — initially causing overcrowding in Border Patrol stations and

downtown McAllen, where immigrants released were dropped at the downtown bus station.

The surge prompted Catholic Charities of the Rio GrandeValley to open a relief center at SacredHeartChurch, which remains in operation today.

McAllen Mayor Jim Darling, who attended the briefing, said the federal court ruling blocking President Obama’s immigration mandates and law enforcement in Mexico were also discussed.

“It was more of a status update; (they told us) where we are in relationship to the different people coming across,” he said, adding the number of crossers was holding steady. “It’s maintaining, for whatever reason.”

Even if there isn’t an increase, many people who do cross still go through McAllen’s bus station.

“There’s no end to that cycle,” Darling said. “But I think with Catholic Charities it’s sustainable.”

The number of immigrants through downtown’s Sacred Heart shelter has trended up since the winter months. In June, about 1,700 people visited — an increase of about 400 from May, according to the latest available figures. Through

the first 12 days of July, nearly 800 had visited.

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