Asylum-Seeking Migrants Headed To Dallas Due To Overcrowding In El Paso
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Asylum-seeking migrants from a shelter in El Paso will arrive in Dallas within a few days.
The overcrowded shelter reached out to the city of Dallas for assistance.
Buses with 50 to 60 migrants are expected to arrive at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church on Saturday.
Area faith groups have announced plans to offer the migrants temporary shelter to relieve overcrowding along the border.
The church will serve as a respite center where the migrants can stay during the day.
Senior Pastor Rachel Baughman said she's prepared to welcome dozens of them, "Make sure that they have a good meal to eat and a place to sleep before they get back on the road."
Her church is part of a local collaboration partnering with the nonprofit Annunciation House in El Paso, which reports seeing hundreds of refugees released from Border Patrol custody every day.
"They're all families, families with children, and they've all already been through a screening process," she said.
The church, which will serve as an intake center, will be staffed with volunteers from faith groups around the Dallas area.
A local hotel association has donated rooms where families can spend the night, but each individual family is expected to spend no longer than 60 hours there.
"There's nothing to be worried about here," said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. "These are people who have already been vetted by Customs and Border Patrol and have been released of their own recognizance."
Judge Jenkins said no public funds are being spent on the effort which aims to assist migrants who already have a plan for where they are headed.
"We give them a place to make that phone call, to get that money wired for the bus ticket, so they can get on to their ultimate destination," he said.