City of Eagle Pass Partners with Law Enforcement Agencies to Address Immigration Crisis
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2022
The City of Eagle Pass, Texas held a press conference on Thursday, March 31, 2022, at City Hall headlined by Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. to announce the city was partnering with county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to address the immigration influx of migrants facing the community and to secure the safety of its citizens.
Mayor Salinas stated the City of Eagle Pass held a meeting on March 31st with law enforcement agencies, including the U. S. Border Patrol, U. S. Customs and Border Protection, Texas Department of Public Safety (Operation Lone Star), Maverick County Sheriff’s Department, Maverick County Attorney’s Office, and Eagle Pass Police Department to tackle the current “illegal immigration”crisis in the community.
Salinas stated that the “city’s priority number one is the safety of its citizens.“ Salinas noted that during the meeting, the agencies discussed “the release of immigrants” in the community through a local NGO (non-governmental organization), Mission: Border Hope, located at 811 North Bibb Avenue, within a residential area of Eagle Pass. Salinas noted that up to 500 immigrants are being “dropped off” daily at Mission: Border Hope by the U. S. Border Patrol.
The U. S. Border Patrol processes all immigrants who enter the country and then releases those who are not deported to NGO’s to facilitate their transfer to family or friends within the United States.
Mission: Border Hope is a non-profit organization of the United Methodist Church whose mission is to make and multiply disciples of Jesus Christ that transform the world. It believes that “all God’s people are worthy of an abundant life and are willing to invest our presence, our prayers, and our gifts to help those in need.”
Mission: Border Hope has a contract with the federal government to assist recently arrived immigrants with providing them with shelter, food, clothing, counseling, transportation, and assistance to contact either family members or friends in the United States to facilitate their transport to their final destinations within the United States while awaiting for their applications for asylum to be processed by the federal government.
Although Mission: Border Hope is non-partisan, many of its Board of Directors, staff, and personnel are Republicans serving Jesus Christ.
According to the U. S. Border Patrol Del Rio Sector, there is a significant increase of immigrants entering the United States through the sector territory in the past couple of months, particularly the last three months. For instance, during the weekend of March 25-27, 2022, the U. S. Border Patrol Sector “encountered 2,526 migrants, 71 unaccompanied children, 516 family units, 4 criminal aliens, 30 smuggling attempts, and 8 rescues.”
While the current U. S. Immigration Crisis has a myriad of causes too long to address in this article, the City of Eagle Pass is experiencing a significant increase of immigrants entering through its city limits as well as in Maverick County. Mayor Salinas noted that many citizens have raised concerns that many of these immigrants are crossing through their private property and walking through city streets. Salinas noted that the city’s priority is the safety of its citizens.
Salinas noted that the directors of Mission: Border Hope have advised the City of Eagle Pass that it will soon be relocating to a larger facility in a remote location in the county. Salinas, however, did state that if Mission: Border Hope did not operate its safe haven facility in the community, many of the immigrants would be walking and living among the community of Eagle Pass. Most immigrants are only in Eagle Pass for a day or two until Mission: Border Hope assists them to make arrangements for transportation to their final destinations.
Joining Mayor Salinas at the March 31st press conference we’re Eagle Pass Police Chief Federico Garza, Assistant Police Chief Alejandro Guedea, DPS Officer Mr. Castro, and Maverick County Attorney Jaime “A.J.” Iracheta.
Mayor Salinas stated that Maverick County Attorney Jaime “A.J.” Iracheta will soon commence filing criminal misdemeanor charges against immigrants who trespass private property or commit other criminal offenses in county court as part of Governor Gregg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.
Salinas also discussed how the federal government will no longer use Title 42 to exclude and immediately deport immigrants effective May 23, 2022. A significant larger influx of immigrants is expected to attempt to enter the United States after May 23rd, according to experts.
While the City of Eagle Pass is partnering with law enforcement agencies to address the immigration situation, Mayor Salinas did not mention any other civil, non-profit, or religious organizations with whom the city is working with to address the dilemma facing the community or that were invited to participate in the March 31st meeting at City Hall. A complete local, state, and federal community effort is necessary to tackle the immigration paradox and the myriad of causes fueling it.
