SAN ANTONIO -- A local congregation which opened its door to hundreds of immigrants spent the day cleaning up.
The San Antonio Mennonite Church is also sending donations to shelters where Central American women and children are now staying.
Since this past Saturday, the church took in some 500 people released from two South Texas immigration detention centers.
Since 2014, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has locked up women and children who have illegally crossed into Texas.
Late Friday, state District Judge Karin Crump ruled the for-profit centers in Dilley and Karnes County could not be licensed to operate as child care centers.
That's when the church offered the former detainees refuge.
"God said so many times in the Hebrew scriptures, 'Do not forget that you are aliens. Do not forget that you are aliens. And help the alien in your land,'" said Pastor John Garland.
The families are now in shelters better equipped for their needs.
Travis Park Methodist Church also says it will also take in immigrants as more are released from federal detention centers.