New migrant shelter in Reynosa nearly complete, director says
A new migrant shelter being built in Reynosa is nearly complete.
This comes as hundreds of asylum seekers wait in Mexico for a court date with an immigration judge in the U.S.
Construction on the new migrant camp in the Aquiles Serdan neighborhood in Reynosa is about 80 percent finished, said Pastor Hector Silva, director of the Senda de Vida shelter.
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The shelter is set to have kitchens, bathrooms, showers, high-security walls and humanitarian aid.
However, even with all of these amenities, some migrants say they're not interested.
“What we want is to be on the other side in the U.S. instead of being sent back,” said Samuel Lopez, a Honduran migrant who was expelled back to Mexico with his children because of Title 42.
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Lopez is now looking to get into the U.S. with humanitarian parole.
Some organizations say it will be difficult to convince migrants to move to the new site.
Claudia Romero, the director of Ayuda Humanitaria Reynosa, said there is no way they will force the migrants out of the park.
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Humanitarian organizations say the current camp has more than 3,000 people in it and blame the high numbers of daily expulsions being done under the Title 42 health directive to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S.
Silva could not give an exact date as to when the migrant shelter will be open.