Kind-hearted volunteers running food banks and shelters in the border town of El Paso are begging the Biden administration to help them ease the crisis they have created by allowing thousands of migrants to enter the country every week.
The crisis at the border is escalating to such an extent that 1,050 migrants, predominantly from Venezuela, are arriving every day. They are overwhelming the town, whose residents have always welcomed migrants and provided them with food and resources but who are now struggling to keep up with the demand.
In an impassioned plea for help on Wednesday, the CEO of the Rescue Mission of El Paso, a religious shelter which welcomes the homeless, said no one from Washington DC had been in touch.
He said the sheer volume of people turning up every day is straining the shelter, and that staff fear they cannot feed and clothe everyone who needs it.
The food banks have bare shelves and shelters are bursting with beds. Cots have now been set up in the chapel at the rescue mission to accommodate the extra people.
Migrants in the Rescue Mission of El Paso are now sleeping in the shelter’s chapel, where beds have been set up to accommodate the sudden influx of people in need of accommodation
Cots inside the chapel at the Rescue Mission of El Paso as the town struggles to cope with the influx of migrants
The shelves are bare at good banks like El Pasoans Fighting Hunger. For years, the town has generously welcomed migrants and fed them – but the current influx is stretching resources
A group of Venezuelans, who recently crossed to the U.S. from Mexico, walk together after receiving food and other aid from a good Samaritan on September 20, 2022 in El Paso, Texas
Venezuelans who recently crossed to the U.S. from Mexico, hang out near the Greyhound bus station waiting to continue on their journey on September 20, 2022 in El Paso, Texas. In recent weeks, Venezuelans have arrived in increasing numbers in El Paso
Asylum-seeking migrants, mostly from Venezuela, wait in line to be processed after crossing the Rio Grande to El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, September 19, 2022
The Rescue Mission of El Paso has now set up cots inside its chapel to accommodate the thousands arriving every week.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the mission pleaded for more donations.
‘Here’s a glimpse of our Chapel where we’ve had to move in cots for the overflow of migrants we’ve received.
‘We are in need of walking shoes for men, women and children. Shoes can be new or gently used as long as there are no holes or stains.’
And in a letter written on Wednesday, CEO Blake W. Barrow said: ‘The immigration processing center became so over-crowded that the government began loading migrants on busses and dropping them off in front of shelters. The Rescue Mission has received about 500 migrants. All of them are from Venezuela. They need showers, good clothes, and food.’
He added that the city desperately needs government help, but is being ignored.
‘The number of migrants we have coming into El Paso is so large that it is overwhelming the housing and support services that the city is able to offer.
‘Obviously, we need a well-coordinated, federal solution to this problem, but, so far, no one from Washington has asked our opinions.
He pleaded for funding from the federal government and for donations of clothes, along with Spanish speakers to assist the migrants in prayer.
‘When we have hungry people standing in front of us, we are going to feed them, and we are going to offer shelter space to as many people as we can. But, the additional meals are straining the food budget. We are serving more than twice as many meals today than we were two weeks ago. Your help is urgently needed.
‘We need good walking shoes, jeans, towels, twin sized sheets, and money for food and the utility bills. Also, we would love to have people who speak Spanish who can pray with those who are here. They have made a 3,000+ mile journey and have experienced lots of trauma along the way.’
Migrants from Venezuela, who boarded a bus in Texas, wait to be transported to a local church by volunteers after being dropped off outside the residence of US Vice President Kamala Harris, at the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, on September 15, 2022
Migrants arriving in New York City earlier this month. Republican Mayors are warning Democratic counterparts they’ll keep sending bus loads of people until they denounce Biden’s border policy
Food banks are struggling to keep up with the demand in the town too.
‘We are working very hard to find the financial and the food resources to meet this crisis. We are preparing sack lunches and sack breakfasts on a daily basis for the migrant population.
‘We’ve been preparing close to 2,000 meals a day,’ said Susan Goodell, CEO of El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank told FOX News.
Mario D’Agostino, the town’s Deputy Health Manager, said: ‘If we go back and look at what the average was in August, that was around 700 per day. Today alone, we received at least 1,050 people released to the community.’
He added that the majority of those traveling into the town now are from Venezuela, and that almost all want to be bussed to New York City.
‘By far, the vast majority of them have requested to go to New York City. We’ve also had several large groups that are asking to go to Chicago,’ he said.
Local politicians have likened the unfolding crisis to something from a ‘third world country’.
While the migrants are temporarily overwhelming strained resources in El Paso, it is not the final destination for the thousands of Venezuelans arriving in the town.
There is an ongoing row between governors and mayors in Texas and New York over where the families should be settled.
El Paso is defending sending thousands to New York City, insisting it’s where the migrants want to go.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other Mayors of Democratic, sanctuary cities are up in arms over having to deal with the bus loads of people arriving.
Republican leaders say it perfectly calls their bluff, after watching them pontificate on the issue for years without ever having to deal with the crisis at play. President Biden continues to largely ignore the crisis.