Lawmakers are scheduled to visit the Rio Grande Valley on Friday to tour the border and see the immigrant surge, but some local officials say this is not a crisis in immigration but a crisis of lack of resources.
Joel Villarreal, Rio Grande City Mayors says: “Whether Republicans were in office, or in power, whether Democrats were in power-we’ve had these surges before. It’s imperative that we get the funding to address it, make sure law enforcement has the resources available—and municipalities as well that are dealing with the influx of migrants as well,”
Starr County Judge Eloy Vera says the pandemic is playing an important part “However, back then we did not have COVID-19 and that’s what very alarming. For us over here is that these people are coming across, we don’t have the resources to house them, to test them”.
According to Border Patrol data, the number of arrests of migrants that illegally entered the U.S. from 2021 is not far from 2019.
“I am in constant communication with federal and Biden administration officials to coordinate efforts and resources, as well as to advocate for the City of Brownsville’s needs to be able to respond to any immigration situation appropriately,” said Trey Mendez, Brownsville Mayor. “As always, the City and Commission’s primary focus is the health and safety of our community and staff.”
