When There Are No Illegal Immigrants, There Is No Need for Shelters

Press Releases

TLDR

This press release attributes decreased border crossings to enforcement while omitting that it stems from policy changes (CBP One elimination, refugee suspension, “invasion” declaration) that have increased dangers and costs for migrants while forcing humanitarian organizations to close shelters, pushing vulnerable populations into more precarious situations.

The decrease in border crossings is not solely due to enforcement, but rather due to several key policy changes:

  • Elimination of the CBP One app, which stranded approximately 270,000 people who had legal appointments or were waiting for their chance to present themselves legally
  • Suspension of refugee admissions indefinitely as of January 27, 2025
  • Declaration of the border situation as an “invasion” to restrict asylum access

The press release omits critical humanitarian implications:

  • Deaths in the El Paso sector are actually increasing despite lower crossing numbers, mainly from heat exhaustion and dehydration
  • Smuggling costs have doubled to $6,000-$10,000 per crossing, pushing migrants toward more dangerous routes
  • Shelter closures are not a sign of success but rather of policy changes forcing migrants to remain in dangerous conditions

The press release contains several misrepresentations:

  • It characterizes organizations as “facilitating invasion” when they were providing legal humanitarian assistance to asylum seekers
  • It fails to mention that many migrants are not “returning home” but rather seeking more dangerous crossing routes or remaining stranded in Mexico
  • The sudden closure of shelters is primarily due to Trump administration policy changes in federal funding and enforcement, not lack of need

The press release presents shelter closures as a success while ignoring the humanitarian crisis these policies have created and the displacement of vulnerable populations to more dangerous situations.

Two years ago, U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered 1,500 illegal immigrants every day in the El Paso sector alone — now, they’re seeing roughly 80 per day amid President Donald J. Trump’s unprecedented effort to secure the homeland.

Now, organizations that once facilitated the invasion of illegal immigrants are finding out that sheltering them is no longer necessary: “It’s because migrants are not coming across the border right now,” one local reporter said.

  • Catholic Charities says they see only “zero to three families” at their McAllen, Texas, shelter and cut staff in Dallas due to the lack of need.
  • A Brownsville, Texas, facility shut its doors due to the “sudden decrease in asylum seekers” over the past month.
  • A migrant shelter network in El Paso, Texas, says just one or two of its 20 shelters will remain open.
  • Pima County, Arizona, shut down two migrant shelters due to the lack of demand in the aftermath of President Trump’s inauguration.
  • In San Diego, California, a shelter “has not had a single migrant walk through its doors since President Trump took office” and has since closed altogether.
  • In New York City, a network of shelters that once housed thousands of illegal immigrants have been closed.
  • In northern Mexico, local news reports the flow of illegal immigrants seeking to enter the United States has “decreased enormously” — with facilities that once held thousands of illegals now seeing just a tiny fraction.