[Washington Examiner] MCALLEN, Texas — The sleepy-looking downtown of McAllen would give passersby no reason to believe it is the epicenter of a border surge that threatens to consume the Biden administration’s first months.A large converted nightclub space with blacked-out windows has been transformed into a resting spot for migrant families, 600 of which are released to the Catholic Charities organization every day. An armed security guard stands at the front doors, which are locked for the safety of the masses inside.
Conditions back home in northern Central American countries have prompted multiple migration surges over the past decade. And while the U.S. government was hyperfocused on it under the Obama and Trump administrations, Sister Norma Seni Pimentel, executive director of the Catholic Charities humanitarian respite center, said they failed to address the push factors sufficiently. As a result, smugglers are still easily able to entice the vulnerable into taking on debts in the thousands in return for getting them to America.
"The cartels and the traffickers use anything that happens, whether it's a new president or a wall going up, they use it to their advantage to say, 'This is the best time to come,'" said Sister Norma when asked why the families have said they made the journey.
Those here were released by Border Patrol within the last 24 hours, after being taken into custody for illegally coming across the Rio Grande, which separates the United States from Mexico. Agents held the families before they were dropped off at a nearby parking lot. There, the U.S. government conducts rapid COVID-19 tests on everyone. Those who test negative are then walked by a Catholic Charities worker past a bus station to the respite center.
The flow of people is not as high as in 2019, but it is escalating each week.