WOAI New Radio 1200Here we go again. News Radio 1200 WOAI reports that six months after the summertime spike in immigrants rushing into Texas from Central America, the rush seems to be starting again.
“They’re not peaking as they were during the summer months, but we’re seeing upwards of 60 to 100 people a day,” says Brenda Riojas, who operates programs for illegal immigrants at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McAllen, which was at the center of this past summer’s flood of immigrants.
She says that compares with 200 per day that were being helped by her church at the height of the influx of refugees this past summer.
This number represents people who were coming just to the McAllen church. She says it indicates a similar rush of illegal immigrants into other parts of Texas and the southwest as well.
There had been speculation that President Obama’s executive order granting amnesty to as many as 5 million illegal immigrants would spark a new rush to the border, as desperate people hope to cash in on legal U.S. residency.
She says it is not unusual for there to be a ‘mini spike’ of illegal immigrants coming in the winter, but this is far more than normal.
“People will typically take the journey prior to the summer months prior to the start of school, and you will have others make the journey during the winter months,” she said.
There are no country of origin breakouts available, but it is believed that the majority of new illegal immigrants are from El Salvador, Guatemala, and especially Honduras, three countries where widespread corruption and bad governance has led to rampant gang crime.
Immigration from Mexico is down over the past decade due largely to better job prospects and a more stable society in much of Mexico.
The Department of Homeland Security recently opened a very controversial new shelter for illegal immigrants who have been apprehended and are waiting for court dates on whether their request for asylum will be granted. NHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said at the time that the presence of the shelter was to deter more Central Americans from making the dangerous and very expensive journey to the U.S.