Hidalgo, Texas — At the Brownsville bus terminal, the latest batch of migrants dropped off by border agents wait, many with no place to go. There are a lot of families and most show up with no food, money or clothes.
“There’s water and juice and snacks because this has to get them through the day, through the next two days,” said Sergio Cordova, one of the non-profit volunteers that tries to help.
It’s been a steady stream. Just last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 92,000 people were apprehended crossing illegally and 8,900 were children.
It’s a crisis President Trump has painted in stark language to defend his hard-line immigration stance.
“Dangerous people are coming here and the good people are dying,” he said in San Antonio Wednesday.
But Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez said the president’s continued threats to close the border, combined with the rising number of migrants, are grinding traffic and commerce to a standstill.
“Getting tougher is not the answer. The answer is sitting down and talking and saying, how do we alleviate why they’re coming here,” he said.
With detention centers overcrowded, some of those released with nowhere to go end up in the care of Jack White.
“There needs to be unity in the way in which we envision a strong refugee program,” White said.
He runs a short-term shelter for migrants who have already crossed the border.
“If people are concerned over this crisis, they’ll have to own up to that. What we’re doing here is certainly a challenge. But will we handle more? Yes, if we’re asked, we will,” he said.
The flood of illegal immigrants shows no sign of receding. Cameras captured another group Wednesday, waiting for border agents with no where to put them.
© 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
