If migrants cross, Brownsville shelter to help

UPDATED AT 1:47 P.M. NOV. 2, 2018:

If some people in caravans making their way through Mexico cross into the United States, at least one shelter in Brownsville will assist them, officials say.

In an interview with The Rider, Victor Maldonado, executive director of the Ozanam Center, said the main concern for the center is the number of people in the caravans.

“Our main concern right now is if that many people are to show up at the bridge, for instance, tomorrow, the main concern for us would be where would we house them if they start crossing,” Maldonado said.

The Ozanam Center helps people by providing temporary shelter and housing to the homeless besides other various services. The center assists “needy families, runaway youth, the elderly, individuals with substance abuse problems, mental illness and other special needs,” according to the Ozanam Center website, ozanambrownsvillecenter.org.

On Oct. 29, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department announced the deployment of over 5,200 troops to protect the country from the migrant caravans that are trying to reach the U.S.-Mexico border.

During the news conference at the Defense Department, Kevin McAleenan, U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, said the purpose of sending the troops to the southwest border is to prepare for “the contingency of a large group of arriving persons intending to enter the United States in the next couple of weeks.”

A group of about 3,500 migrants traveling through Mexico is currently near the Chiapas-Oaxaca border in southern Mexico. Another group of about 3,000 people is on the Ciudad Hidalgo border crossing between Mexico and Guatemala, McAleenan said at the news conference that was posted on YouTube by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The migrants are mainly from Honduras and recently, from El Salvador.

At the news conference, Gen. Terrence John O’Shaughnessy, commander of the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said Operation Faithful Patriot, which is the name given to the operation, will focus on the borders of Texas, Arizona and California.

The troops, who are expected to arrive the end of last week, will assist Customs and Border Protection with logistics and operational support. They will not be in direct contact with the migrants due to the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of the Army for law enforcement issues.

O’Shaughnessy said the 5,200 soldiers will only be an addition to the “2,092 that are already deployed from our National Guard’s Operation Guardian Support that’s been so effective.”

He said the numbers will continue to be adjusted and the public will be informed when changes are made.

McAleenan said CBP will not allow the caravans to enter the country unlawfully.

“For those that seek to cross the border illegally, we will apprehend them and fully enforce the laws of the United States,” he said. “For those that seek to make an asylum claim, safely and lawfully, at a port of entry, the government of Mexico has already offered you protection and employment authorization. If you are fleeing an alleged persecution at home, you have arrived at a safe place to make your claim. If you’re an economic migrant seeking to join family members in the United States, you should return home and apply for the appropriate visa.”

Clients of the Ozanam Center can get aid for 30 days and receive three hot meals, a bed assigned to them, showers and clothes donated by the community.

Ben Neece, chairman of the Ozanam Center board of directors and the District 4 commissioner on the Brownsville City Commission, said the center would not have enough capacity to help so many people.

“We have capacity for about 200 people here,” Neece said. “We are about half capacity right now, so you can see we are going to have very limited resources.”

He said part of the contingency plan is to use the dome located at the Brownsville Sports Park in case of an emergency.

“It has to be activated through the Red Cross,” Neece said. “Mr. Maldonado will be in contact and communication with the Red Cross to monitor, you know, whether we exceed capacity or not and what they can do to open up the shelter.”

He said the resources the Ozanam Center has will only last for a certain period of time.

“The city is going to have to come up with some solutions,” Neece said. “I understand that [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] and the Department of Homeland Security are also in communication with the city about how to deal with it.”

Maldonado said the center does not ask people for any documentation to receive the help. He said the center will require help from the community to prepare for the migrant caravans.

“We are probably going to be needing a lot of help from the community with donations of clothes, with donations of food. That’s most importantly. Also … monetary donations because whenever you have a lot of individuals coming in in one facility, you know, the usage of the water, the facility, is 24 hours. So, things are going to break.”

The Ozanam Center is located at 656 N. Minnesota Ave. in Brownsville. Maldonado encourages people to volunteer or to make donations to the center.

Asked if President Donald Trump needs approval from Congress to send the armed forces to the U.S.-Mexico border, Neece, who is an attorney, replied, “First of all, declaring war requires congressional approval and this is not declaring war. Now, can the U.S. Army be utilized? Supposedly, no. Can the National Guard be utilized? Supposedly, yes. So, that depends on what he means by the troops. So, just sending the Army down may be in violation of the … posse comitatus. …  This is an immigration issue … unless they consider it an invasion for us.”

Oct. 18, President Trump tweeted that he would close the southern border if Mexico would not do anything to stop the caravan.

In an interview with The Rider, political science Associate Professor Mark Kaswan said the president has the authority to do this. However, this would affect “the massive quantity of commerce that crosses the border” besides also affecting people who make their lives in both countries.

In regard to Trump’s comments about his plans to end the right to citizenship for babies who are born in the U.S. to undocumented parents, Kaswan said it is a strange thing that the president believes he can do that.

The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”

Kaswan said it would be difficult to say that this statement has another meaning or does not apply to people who came to the U.S. illegally.

Regarding the migrant caravans, he said that most of the migrant people in the caravan will not make it to the U.S. border.

“They’re going to go back to their home country or they’re going to take refugee status in Mexico,” Kaswan said.

On Thursday, after the Beto O’Rourke rally at the Dean Porter Park Ringgold Civic Pavilion, Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez said that “what our country needs is unity and not division,” which is “what’s being sold in Washington and I think my frustration comes out of this.”

“It’s the misinformation about the need of troops,” Martinez said.

He also said the migrant caravans are being characterized differently from what they are in reality.

“These folks are a thousand miles away,” the mayor said. “They’re mommas and they’re poppas, and they’re babies, and they’re children; and, they’re being characterized as someone who are terrorists and strong young men, all of which is totally false.”

Asked about his thoughts on the 5,200 soldiers deployed to the border, Kaswan replied, “To me, it’s much to do about nothing. … You are not going to see troops marching up and down the border. You are not going to see tanks. … That’s just not going to happen. … However, it’s also clear that … CBP and some of the local agencies are using it as a kind of opportunity for a show of force.”

The political science professor said this is a massive waste of resources due to the probably small number of people who will actually get to the U.S. border.

He said the main concern should only be a humanitarian one.

“We claim to be the most powerful country on Earth with over 300 million residents and we are afraid of a caravan of 4,000 people who literally have nothing,” Kaswan said. “They are barely managing to go from day to day. … These are people who are desperate, who are undertaking an arduous trip with very little resources and under very bad conditions.”

Para la versión en español de este artículo, oprima aquí.