Title 42 policy still in place
Migrants are expelled back to Mexico on a daily basis after entering the U.S. illegally.
Some of them have a disability - and humanitarian organizations have been chosen to pick out which migrants should be let back in.
Two blocks from the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge, nearly 700 migrants live at Plaza de la Republica, a park in Reynosa.
Felicia Rangel Samponaro and Victor Cavazos are with the Sidewalk School. They give migrants help nearly every day with classes for migrant children, food, and legal assistance through U.S. attorneys.
“We're doing the government's job, to be honest,” Samponaro said.
According to a spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Title 42 - a policy set forth by the Trump administration during the pandemic - is still in place. Under the policy, U.S. Border Patrol can send migrants back to Mexico after illegally entering the country.
In a statement to Channel 5 News, a D.H.S spokesperson said they are working to streamline a system “for identifying and lawfully processing particularly vulnerable individuals who warrant humanitarian exceptions under the order.”
The U.S. government says some migrants get a special parole with the guidance of humanitarian organizations in Mexico. The organizations have been doing the COVID-19 tests on migrants before being let in to the U.S.
Many migrants at this shelter anxiously wait for a call from a U.S. attorney so they can get the green light to finally cross into the country and someday have a date in court with an immigration judge.
According to several organizations, between 15 to 25 migrants cross into the U.S. legally under a humanitarian parole nearly every day.