Border surge having impact on migrant shelters in North Texas

DALLAS - The continuing surge of people crossing the border illegally is having an impact on sheltering services in North Texas.

Border agents encountered nearly 250,000 people trying to cross over from Mexico last month alone.

Those who are seeking asylum and receive court appointments for their cases are often transferred across the U.S. 

North Texas is a busy stop along the way, and this growing backlog is having an impact on migrant shelters, including one Dallas church.

"Everybody here in Dallas, as far as we know, they are over capacity. There is no other way to receive people," Oak Lawn Unted Methodist Church Associate Pastor Isabel Marquez said.

The migrant surge at the Texas/Mexico border is showing no sign of easing up. 

Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas is a welcome center for asylum applicants after they are processed. 

Marquez said the volume of migrants coming from detention centers has increased from one bus a week at the beginning of the year.

"We started seeing buses, 3-4 times a week, and that was from 40 and 80 people at the time, so we have seen the increase there," she said.

Dallas is a transit point for many of the applicants, who then relocate to a sponsor until their scheduled court dates, but that is another problem.

Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse reported the backlog for asylum cases passed 3 million at the end of November. 

This time last year, the backlog was 2 million cases.

When the welcome center in Dallas re-opens next week, Marquez said it will be at the same time their cold weather shelter for the homeless opens, meaning the church may have to use all three floors to house migrants and the homeless.

"We are ready for them," she said. "We are going to accommodate everything we need to receive them."

Marquez said some migrants are putting shelters as their sponsor address, which prolongs their time there. 

But she said they eventually get in contact with a friend or family to stay with until their court date.