TX - City Prepares for Border Surge

McAllen spent thousands for resources last year

POSTED: 08:02 PM CDT May 21, 2015 UPDATED: 08:45 PM CDT May 21, 2015

CALLEN -

The city of McAllen is getting ready for the possible influx of illegal crossers.

The Rio Grande Valley was ground zero during last year’s border surge. Cities, counties and other agencies reacted to the influx.

McAllen Mayor Jim Darling said they are prepared to provide resources if they have a repeat of last year’s surge.

Illegal crossers traveled through McAllen on their journey north. Many of them stopped at Sacred Heart Church along the way. The Makeshift Shelter was a joint project of Catholic Charities and the city of McAllen. Darling said the city spent more than $325,000 on the operation.

“When you look at the overall budget, it didn’t have a huge impact because it was existing employees doing something different than they normally did and using equipment that wasn’t necessarily in service. The actual out of our pocket money, really related to fuel and maybe some overtime,” Darling said.

The money hasn’t been paid back to the city. U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar announced McAllen and other groups could ask FEMA for reimbursement. Darling said they may not see that money for awhile.

“It’s a lot of red tape and we still don’t know what the exact process is because it’s not exactly FEMA and it’s treated differently. We’re going to try and find out and then go to the legislators who proposed it and get it passed and say, hey, it’s not working out like you thought it could,” he said.

Still, Darling said the city is ready to move around to deal with another possible border surge.

Border Patrol Chief Kevin Oaks said whether it happens or not, they are better equipped to address the crisis than last year. He said they have enough facilities to deal with a spike of illegal crossers.

“We were prepared last year, but part of the breakdown was our inability to deal with so many family units and so many unaccompanied juveniles,” Oaks said.

Darling said his town will be prepared for any possibility. Local leaders have planned for a surge but Border Patrol doesn’t believe one will happen.

Oaks said there are more detention facilities and more security along Mexico’s southern border. That will help keep high volumes of illegal crossers from making their way north.

http://www.krgv.com/news/local-news/...Surge/33157718

Relate something to me that I do not understand. What has the republican controlled Congress accomplished in discouraging or preventing another surge? I feel ill informed on this.