From New York to Arizona, migrant facilities shuttering in wake of Trump's border crackdown
In January, two shelters shuttered in Pima County, Arizona, according to the Arizona Daily Star. In San Diego, the Jewish Family Service closed its shelter in February, specifically citing policy changes like the CBP One app going away as part of the reason for its closure.
In Texas, the San Antonio-based Migrant Resource Center that opened in 2022 closed in February due to the plunge in people crossing into the United States, according to Texas Public Radio.
On the East Coast, New York City closed 63 migrant shelters this year, according to PIX11, and Massachusetts is down to four shelters from over 120 in 2024, according to NBC 10 Boston. The outlet reported that 24 of the Massachusetts shelters closed their doors this week.
"President Trump ended Joe Biden's illegal alien invasion and ushered in the most secure border ever. Migrant shelters are shuttering because illegal aliens are no longer being released into our great country – that's the Trump Effect," White House Assistant Press Secretary Liz Huston said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The White House is also touting that processing facilities along the border have closed, as the United States Customs and Border Protection told Fox News Digital in May that all of its "soft-sided" facilities in Texas, California and Arizona have shut down.
"Due to the unprecedented drop in apprehensions of illegal aliens as a result of the President's recent executive actions, CBP is not operating any temporary, soft-sided processing facilities where illegal aliens have been held in specific locations along the southwest border. CBP no longer has a need for them as illegal aliens are being quickly removed," a CBP spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital at the time.
"The U.S. Border Patrol has full capability to manage the detention of apprehended aliens in USBP's permanent facilities. Manpower and other resources dedicated to temporary processing facilities will be redirected toward other priorities and will speed CBP's progress in gaining operational control over the southwest border," the spokesperson added.
In Mexico, there has also been a reported drop in people seeking to come to the U.S. illegally. The latest border numbers revealed that numbers remain significantly lower than they were compared with the Biden administration, as there were only 6,070 southern border apprehensions in June by Border Patrol, and there were zero releases in May or June. On June 28, there were only 137 encounters at the southern border, according to CBP data.
The comments from the White House come as the House is in its closing hours of deciding on the Trump-backed reconciliation bill, which includes major funding for the president's border and immigration agenda totaling out to roughly $170 billion, according to Reuters.
Billions will go toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement as the agency ramps up its deportation efforts, including a goal of hiring at least 10,000 more agents, according to the White House. In addition, the bill seeks to more than double the detention capacity for those in deportation proceedings and fund further border wall construction, according to Reuters.
"Once the One, Big, Beautiful Bill is passed, this historic border security progress will be made permanent and the largest mass deportation campaign in American history will be carried out," Huston added.
Unsurprisingly, not everybody is on board with the immigration measures outlined.
"A deportation machine will be unleashed on steroids," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies said during his lengthy House floor speech on Thursday.
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