ACUNA, Mexico – Roughly 500 Haitian migrants, with more expected, are waiting in Acuna, Mexico, directly across from Del Rio, hoping to be granted asylum in the United States.
They are staying in a compound with tents, cots, and blankets sprawled out, with many migrants sleeping on the concert floor. Recent rains have started to flood parts of the shelter, making bad conditions worse.
San Antonio nonprofit Uniting America Outreach made its fifth trip in a little over a week to the border on Friday to take supplies to migrants in Acuna. CFO Josey Garcia says this will be their biggest drop-off yet. They’re taking over six pallets of food, clothes, diapers, and feminine products.
“The majority of the women are pregnant. There are children. These people have been walking for six months on foot from their war-torn countries,” Garcia said.
Uniting America Outreach Executive Director Pharaoh Clark said other nonprofits, like Duable, have been an enormous help. They’ve brought in donations and used social media to share the efforts being made.
“Soaps, cots, and tents are the top 3 items, but anything you can do helps,” Clark said.
“It’s uplifting. So many people are genuinely happy. A lot of them tell us ‘thank you.’ They want us to tell the people that are donating ‘thank you,’ because they genuinely believe they’re saving their lives,” Clark continued.
Clark and Garcia said they’ve assisted 26 migrants in getting to their host families in the U.S. and another 1,000 with other needs. As more donations come in, they will be making more trips to help. If you would like to donate, you can contact them at UnitingAmericaOutreach.org.