DEPARTMENT: Human Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Melody Woosley
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
City of San Antonio Migrant Resource Center Update
SUMMARY:
This item provides an update on the City of San Antonio's Human Services Department Migrant Resource Center and associated services. The resource center, open daily from 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., is located at 400 N. St. Mary's, across from the Greyhound bus station and is managed by the Department of Human Services with support from city staff and community volunteers. From March 30, 2019 - July 30, 2019, the Migrant Resource Center served 27,835 migrants.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The City of San Antonio opened a Migrant Resource Center on March 30, 2019 to provide needed services to an increased number of migrants traveling through San Antonio. It is operated by the City of San Antonio's Human Services Department, in close coordination with Catholic Charities, San Antonio Food Bank, Interfaith Welcome Coalition, Travis Park Church and other nonprofits and community volunteers.
Since opening, the number of migrants arriving each day in San Antonio has varied from approximately 200 to 450. The vast majority are families with children from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala who have requested asylum in the United States. Some migrants have arrived from other countries, including significant numbers from Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Haiti. Asylum seekers are arriving in San Antonio following brief detainment in Federal facilities and are legally allowed to travel within the United States.
Together with nonprofit partners, the City provides this compassionate layover to asylum seekers so that they can safely arrive at their designated locations for court appearances. At the center, migrants receive help with travel arrangements and tickets to their final destinations, hot meals and snacks, medical services, books, activities for children, toiletries, and diapers while th...
Click here for full text