Recent surge at Texas border impacting Central Texas immigration organizations

Recent surge at border impacts organizations

U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimates it came in contact with about 300,000 migrants at the Texas-Mexico border last month. That’s an all-time record.

AUSTIN, Texas - U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimates it came in contact with about 300,000 migrants at the Texas-Mexico border last month. That’s an all-time record.

Some organizations in Austin have been on the frontlines, helping those that decide to plant new roots in Central Texas.

Casa Marianella is one of those groups.

"We've seen somewhat of an increase but not huge, like New York City, which has 66,000 asylum seekers in shelter," said Jennifer Long, the Co-Executive Director of Casa Marianella.

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The shelter holds a capacity for about 200. But recently, it's been on overflow by about 20 to 30 people.

"It's huge for us, but I think, in general, Austin is not seeing the kind of increase that other parts of the country are seeing," said Long.

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"For one, I think our governor is sending buses to northern cities rather than Texas cities, and I think Austin is not generally a big immigration destination for people," said Long.

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But when it comes to immigration legal services and education in Central Texas, Edna Yang, of American Gateways, said the need seems to be tied a bit closer to what's happening at the border.

"Any time that there is an increase in individuals to the southern border, our services are impacted," said Yang.

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Yang said as a surge of people showed up to the U.S.-Mexico border in December, she saw a request for help rise in Central Texas, too.

"We've seen an increase in the number of people who are coming to see our services, and we've been able to create different programs and services to try and help as much of that need as possible, but we are still not going to be able to meet all of that need," said Yang.

American Gateways said it only has the resources to help about a quarter of the people who request assistance every year, with many pleas for support going unanswered.

"Not only for us, everyone across the board, immigration is going to impact," said Yang. "It's going to impact them. It impacts our communities, our organizations and so trying to find solutions and support organizations like American Gateways that work to provide education and solutions and assistance is really important."