Feds may release hundreds of undocumented immigrants to El Paso

By Luis Carlos Lopez / El Paso Times
POSTED: 06/07/2014 01:09:13 PM MDT


Judy Elizabeth Martinez, holding Marjorie, tries to reach family after being released by ICE at a Greyhound Bus station in Phoenix May 28, 2014. She is from Guatemala and was flown from Georgia to Arizona by ICE. The Border Patrol says about 400 migrants were flown from Texas to Arizona because of a surge in migrants being apprehended in Texas. (Michael Chow / AP Photo)


El Paso may see more than 100 undocumented immigrants being dropped-off at the Downtown Greyhound station daily because of a change in federal immigration enforcement, officials said.

Michael Friel, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said that El Paso's CBP sector is assisting with "the processing of individuals, many of whom were families apprehended in South Texas."

It's not known when the bus loads of immigrants will arrive in El Paso, and an official said planes carrying immigrants also will arrive in El Paso.

"Immigrants apprehended crossing the border in South Texas will be flown to El Paso so Border Patrol can assist with processing," a CBP official said.

"(The) Tucson Sector is prepared to and expects to continue to process unaccompanied children from South Texas," Friel added.

Tony Banegas, the honorary consul of Honduras to Arizona, said, the new drop-off point for many apprehended along the Texas-Mexico border will be at 200 West San Antonio in El Paso.

"We were told that they were not going to send any more buses to Phoenix ...they were going to direct buses to El Paso, Texas," Banegas said.

Banegas stated that after he noticed Phoenix buses dropped off more than 1,000 immigrants at the Phoenix Greyhound station since Memorial Day, he asked local ICE officials to specify how many more buses would be arriving.

Banegas added that he asked because he wanted to see how he could best organize to offer assistance to the newly-arrived immigrants — most of whom were women and children from Central America.

"We wanted to get a sense of how many more buses were going to come to Phoenix," Banegas said.

The potential influx of immigrants in El Paso has Banegas and officials of some Arizona immigrant shelters concerned.

They said they feel that the El Paso's shelters might not be ready to handle the volume of undocumented immigrants released from custody.

Cyndi Whitmore, a volunteer for the Restoration Project in Phoenix, said that it has taken her group a couple of years to provide adequate help for immigrants.

She said most of the immigrants have travelled for days and are in need of water and other urgent necessities.

"We are concerned that another organization in the El Paso area is not going to be prepared to see this kind of volume of families," Whitmore said.

Executives of the Annunciation House, which helps undocumented immigrants in El Paso, could not be reached for comment.

Melissa M. Lopez, executive director of diocesan migrant and refugee services at the El Paso Diocese, said that while the diocese focuses on providing legal services to immigrants, local organizations may be ready to meet the challenge.

"I would say there's limited resources here in El Paso, but El Paso saw a huge increase in asylum seekers after violence in Juárez escalated," Lopez said.

"I think El Paso responded well. The service and shelters responded well. We try to work together to do the best that we can,"

It's not known how many undocumented immigrants will be sent to El Paso.

The Associated Press reported that because of a surge of undocumented immigrant traffic across South Texas, President Barrack Obama's administration is releasing immigrants inside the U.S.

The AP also reported that there's a growing perception that immigrants — particularly families — are being allowed to stay in the country freely.

Cecilia Muñoz, director of domestic policy for the White House, said those rumors are false and that immigrants caught at the border, "regardless of their age, still face deportation," the AP reported.

The immigrants released in the U.S., including those in El Paso, will have to report to immigration officials within 15 days as directed by federal authorities, the AP reported. "Immigrants apprehended crossing the border in South Texas will be flown to El Paso so Border Patrol can assist with processing. The vast majority of individuals transferred were family units from Central America and Mexico with children," an El Paso official said.

He said the Department of Homeland Security is screening every individual, taking biometrics, and putting them in the system.

Luis Carlos Lopez may be reached at 546-6381.

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