Mexican Authorities Take Down Migrant Encampment In Matamoros, Leaving Families Stranded

Felicia Rangel-Samponaro, co-director of the Sidewalk School for Children Asylum Seekers, a nonprofit that operates schools for young asylum-seekers south of the border, shared an incident about a migrant family she saw wandering with their luggage in Matamoros, searching for a migrant camp that Mexican authorities had dismantled.

She informed the family that the camp was taken down earlier this month and noted they had nowhere to go. Rangel-Samponaro said that several migrants arriving in Matamoros, located across the border from Brownsville, Texas, face a similar ordeal, Border Report reported.

The co-director said that such families often don't know where to find help while waiting for a chance to have their asylum interviews with U.S. officials. Rangel-Samponaro further said that she fears more migrants will arrive at the border in the weeks before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

Trump has promised to close the Southwest border to asylum seekers trying to enter the United States, which has added to the uncertainty and concerns of those seeking help.

"I assume the problem will continue to be if you come to Matamoros looking for an encampment, you're not going to find it. So, you're going to think this isn't the place, and then you're going to walk away like, I believe what I saw this morning, because if you didn't know there was a camp there today, Friday morning, then it looks like a park now," she said.

Rangel-Samponaro advises migrants to seek shelters in Mexican border cities, such as a government-run facility in a renovated former hospital in Matamoros, located 10 minutes from the Rio Grande. There are also two other shelters available in Reynosa, Mexico.

Her organization, the Sidewalk School for Children Asylum Seekers, conducts daily classes and provides resources for children at all three shelters in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas. She emphasizes that staying in shelters is much safer than living on the streets.

She believes encampments are risky because they leave people vulnerable and exposed. On the other hand, shelters offer clean water, showers, and food, providing a more secure environment for migrants.

Last week, the organization held Christmas celebrations for asylum-seeking children. On Monday, they hosted a party and dinner for several dozen children at the Matamoros shelter. On Tuesday, they organized a similar event for children at a shelter in Reynosa.

Last week, U.S. Border Patrol agents found 22 migrants living in a house in El Paso. In a social media post, Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said that the migrants were found on Dec. 16 in what he described as a "stash house."

While the conditions were described as "poor," all the migrants were in good health. The agents responded to the location after receiving a tip about potential illegal activity there.