Juarez to close tent refuge, as migrants vanish

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The Mexican government is shutting down a soft-sided facility near the Rio Grande that has provided shelter for 9,000 migrants in Juarez during the last nine months.

City officials told Border Report on Wednesday the number of migrant families seeking shelter inside the massive white tents – which can house up to 300 people – has fallen drastically in recent weeks. The low occupancy coincides with the U.S. government deciding on June 4 to expedite the removal of asylum-seekers crossing the border between ports of entry.

The U.S. continues to receive asylum-seekers at ports of entry, but only if they have an appointment through the CBP One app.

The Juarez facility just south of a decommissioned passenger jet being used as a public library is run by Mexico’s National Migration Institute. But the City of Juarez provides supplies, police protection, medical care food to the migrants through its Human Rights Office.

The tents went up at the height of migrant surges in the El Paso-Juarez region at the end of September and early October 2023. U.S. Customs and Border Protection data show 218,763 migrant encounters between Southwest ports of entry in September 2023 , compared to 83,536 this past June .

The tents were empty, sleeping cots piled on the floor and chairs folded atop tables when Border Report visited on Wednesday afternoon. No migrants were about and neither INM nor city workers were around.

Juarez shelters, which were more than half full earlier this month, continue to house large numbers of families waiting for their CBP One appointments in the U.S.

ProVideo in Juarez, Mexico, contributed to this report.

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