SAN ANTONIO — The Migrant Resource Center on San Pedro Avenue is here to stay, likely through the end of the year.
San Antonio City Council approved a request to apply and accept a FEMA grant of $6.5 million to operate the center from April through December of 2023.
To date, the city has spent $13 million assisting migrants who are legally traveling through San Antonio seeking asylum. Officials say $4.7 million has been reimbursed, and the city expects to receive additional reimbursement for services provided in the second half of last year.
“As long as there’s a surge of migrants coming across the border, then we need to prepare to help them and assist them to travel through San Antonio along to their destination,” said Melody Woosley, director of the city's Department of Human Services.
San Antonio has seen a significant drop in the number of migrants passing through the city. According to City Council documents, more than 37,000 migrants arrived in the city in December of 2022 compared to fewer than 5,500 the following February.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security expects Title 42 – a pandemic-era policy that allowed migrants to be expelled from the border – could end sometime this year. Around May is when city officials expect an answer on Title 42, but it's unclear what the outcome could be locally.
"It's really very up in the air," Woosley said, attributing the sharp drop in migrants to changes in federal immigration policies.
The city says it pays for the lease and operations of the building, firefighters, and police presence. Nonprofits such as Catholic Charities provide food and case management services.
The city says it had a higher cost upfront when leaders opened and operated the center, but they say Catholic Charities primarily operates it now.
The nonprofit anticipates the center could be open through the end of the year. Antonio Fernandez, president and CEO of Catholic Charities, did not say how much money the organization has applied for reimbursement.
"If more people come and we need to provide more services, then we need to provide as much help as we can," Fernandez said.
Councilman Clayton Perry initially had pause over the money and where it was coming from, but felt at ease with the city expecting a reimbursement.
“I’m disappointed we’re not getting payments as we’ve been told,” Perry said, also expressing disappointment in the federal government not figuring out its immigration policies.
All council members approved the application, save for District 2 representative Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, who was absent.
City staff also say they are having additional police patrols in the area along with the Solid Waste Department picking up trash in the area.
"The relationship with the neighborhood has improved," Woosley said, adding the city has not received as many complaints compared to when the center first opened in July.
“It would get a little hectic, there were a lot of people in the parking lot area, we got more foot traffic but nobody was ever disrespectful or anything like that,” said Jacob Valdez, store manager at Alien Worlds.
He said he's supportive of the center remaining open, saying migrants would often come looking for things such as hygiene products.
Although the center is a temporary shelter, Woosley says this grant application gives them the option to keep it open through the end of the year.
The vast majority of migrants who use the center are from Venezuela, Haiti and Nicaragua, according to city leaders.
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