City: Taxpayers not on hook for cost of mass releases of migrants by ICE
City: Taxpayers not on hook for cost of mass releases of migrants by ICE
by Claudia Tristán
Thursday, December 27th 2018
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City: Taxpayers not on hook for cost of mass releases of migrants by ICE
EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14) — On Sunday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement dropped about 200 immigrants at the downtown El Paso bus station.
Sun Metro buses took the immigrants to shelters, police officers provided security and the fire department emergency medical technicians helped with medical checks, according to Laura Acosta, the spokesperson for the city of El Paso.
But nonprofit organizations have been the ones to take the lead in providing shelter to the migrants.
“We’ve been primarily working as a support system for the nonprofit organizations,” said Acosta. “The primary focus is the nonprofit organizations. They’ve been serving as housing and sheltering folks and feeding folks, because they’re able to tap into funds that the city isn’t able to do.”
Acosta says federal guidelines determine how much aid the city can provide.
Annunciation House, a nonprofit, has taken charge, placing immigrants in its network of 20 shelters.
The city’s Office of Emergency Management has continued offering help by providing cots.
“We're in the process right now of activating another site. It’s going to be a temporary site that we’re going to have access to, where this morning we installed 135 cots, and it should be operational tomorrow,” said Ruben Garcia, director of the Annunciation House.
Acosta says the city can’t offer to open a shelter because it has to follow specific federal guidelines that constitute an emergency.
“I don’t know if we would be able to earn that money back from the federal government,” said Acosta.
Regardless of the resources used, Acosta says it’s not costing local taxpayers much.
“The cost to the city so far has been minimal, because our police officers are out there doing their job and securing the city,” said Acosta.
“The City has and will continue to provide the necessary transportation, safety and security support as outlined by state and federal guidelines,” said City Manager Tommy Gonzalez. “We are grateful to the nonprofits who are set up to assists in times like these.”
Pending travel arrangements, the immigrants are typically in El Paso no longer than 24-96 hours, according to the city.
Nonprofit organizations, such as the Annunciation House provide food, clothes and assistance in making travel arrangements to the migrant’s final destination usually through bus or airfare purchased by sponsors and family members.
Garcia said in a press conference that Mayor Dee Margo and his wife have been visiting the shelters repeatedly to help serve food. Garcia also wants to invite all local and state elected officials to volunteer at the shelters including El Paso City Council members.
Margo released the following statement:City staff and volunteers have done an incredible job with managing the large number of migrants released in the last few days. The City has provided transportation on Sun Metro buses, fire support, and police have provided security escorting the buses to the hospitality centers. The Office of Emergency Management has been working in conjunction with ICE and the Annunciation House to assist with placing the migrants in temporary shelters. The migrants leave to their final destinations within 24 to 96 hours.
https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/city-t...igrants-by-ice
