MCALLEN, Texas — Despite the weather becoming much hotter in the Rio Grande Valley, buses transporting illegal immigrants who willingly turned themselves over to Border Patrol came every 15 to 20 minutes to drop them off at the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley's center in downtown McAllen.
It's a scene that plays out on a daily basis in the Texas border town since Border Patrol agents in the sector continue to be overwhelmed by the large number of people illegally crossing into the United States. Once the children or families are finished at the Catholic Charities center, they either go to the Greyhound bus station or the McAllen International Airport to continue to their intended destination.
The number of immigrants brought to downtown McAllen in the 30 minutes I was there numbered over 200, with a small group making their way over to the bus station.
With the Biden administration telling Americans that it is once again time to take measures like masking, even if they're vaccinated, due to the rise of "Delta variant" COVID-19 cases, many of the illegal immigrants who show up at the border are sick. Those who choose to go to Catholic Charities and test positive for COVID-19 are put up in local hotels to quarantine, though it was shown recently in nearby La Joya that they do not always stay in their hotel rooms despite being visibly ill.
Even still, not all of the migrants who are in Border Patrol custody are tested for COVID-19, according to Chris Cabrera, a vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, which results in them being released as Border Patrol is mainly focused on processing the thousands of people who show up every day in the RGV Sector.
"We have a lot of agents quarantined right now, which adds to our problem, on top of agents who are sick with COVID, so we're concerned about catching it ourselves, we're concerned about our families and coworkers and it just seems everyone's turning a blind eye to it when we have a real situation down here," Cabrera told Fox News.
McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos previously told Townhall that the influx of illegal immigrants has put a financial burden on the town since it helps with logistics to prevent public safety from declining.
"We're spending some money; fortunately, this time not as much, on a federal issue. We have no business dealing with immigration, but we have to because they drop off the immigrants in downtown McAllen. So we have to assist logistically with some transportation; otherwise, where would they be? What would they do? To me, it's more of a public safety issue," Villalobos said.
