SAN ANTONIO -- After nearly seven months of operation and serving more than 32,000 migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., the City of San Antonio has decided to close the Migrant Resource Center, which is located at 400 North St. Mary’s Street as of Friday.
- Opened on March 30
- Other City agencies also helped
- Agencies will continue to offer services
“Our community came together to provide a compassionate layover to families seeking asylum in the United States. As they traveled through our city they were greeted with safe shelter and San Antonio’s welcoming spirit,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “We should all be proud of the response San Antonio provided these families during their stay. I’d like to thank my Council colleagues, City staff and our community partners for their support in operation of the Migrant Resource Center.”
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The City opened the center on March 30, 2019, to provide needed services to the surge of Central American asylum seekers traveling through San Antonio after being released by Border Patrol and legally on their way to host families and cities.
The City of San Antonio Human Services Department operated the center, in close coordination with other City departments, San Antonio Food Bank, Interfaith Welcome Coalition, Travis Park Church, Catholic Charities, and other nonprofits and community volunteers.
“We are grateful to the City Council, City staff, and our many community partners for their support and hard work, embodying compassion in San Antonio,” said City Manager Erik Walsh. “I am proud of our City employees and community members who volunteered their time at the Migrant Resource Center. San Antonio opened itself to migrants seeking asylum and showed compassion to our neighbors from across the world.”
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At its peak in mid-summer, the center served as many as 450 migrants per day, with just as many receiving overnight shelter at Travis Park Church.
Associate Pastor Gavin Rogers of Travis Park Church said this in a statement about the closing of the migrant center:
“Getting to shelter, serve and walk alongside our migrant brothers and sisters has not only been a blessing for our church, volunteers, and workers but also a practice of solidarity, love, and hospitality. We had the opportunity to serve and it was worth every long night and day. Our migrant friends and families added so much to our community with their presence, love, and testimonies. They are heroes.”
The number of daily arrivals and overnight shelter use dropped significantly in the last several weeks, prompting the City to transition the center. Partner agencies will resume managing services to asylum seekers, as they were doing before the center was activated.