PHOENIX — A Valley church will shelter 150 migrants Friday night after Customs and Border Protection did a "street release" in Yuma.
12News has learned local nonprofits were notified of the 3 p.m. release sometime Friday morning.
The nonprofits, state and local authorities began working to find shelter for the families after migrant centers in Yuma and Tucson were at full capacity.
Monte Vista Baptist Church in Phoenix will open its doors to 150 people.
“Somebody told us that from the office of the governor, they were requesting special assistance because otherwise, people would go to the streets,” said Pastor Angel Campos. “I’m glad they did. I’m glad they contacted us.”
Pastor Campos and volunteers have provided aid to migrant families for several years now. They give them a bed, a warm meal, clean clothes, and transportation to bus stations and the airport.
He usually aids migrants Monday through Thursday after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement notifies him of the shelter need. But on Friday, he told 12News state officials made the special request to house 150 people that day.
Something he hadn’t done since December 2018, he said. Nor expected to receive that many people in a single day.
“We’ve been getting ready for a long time, but nothing has happened,” Pastor Campos said. “So, we were ready today.”
On Thursday, he was notified of the need to house 40 people, but he learned of the larger need by Friday afternoon.
Pastor Campos began to make calls and planned on renting space somewhere after initially thinking he would have to provide shelter to 300 migrants.
During an "emergency meeting" with state and local leaders, he was told the number would be 150.
What are street releases?
"Street releases" are provisional releases that CBP does after they have processed and vetted a person for any national security or public threat after they crossed the border to claim asylum.
On a case-by-case basis, CBP releases migrants on their own recognizance after processing while their cases play out in immigration court. The federal agency can’t hold people after a certain time and after certain procedures have been met.
Migrants are released to non-governmental agencies, like non-profits and churches. If they can’t take them in, authorities identify locations where migrants can be dropped off, like bus stations and airports.
The nonprofit Regional Center for Border Health has been processing 800-850 migrants daily in Yuma, 12News has learned. On Friday, they were at full capacity and could not assist the people released by CBP on Friday.
Mesa church harassed
Not everyone agrees with the help churches provide to the migrant community.
A woman showed up at Iglesia Cristiana El Buen Pastor in Mesa and harassed volunteers and migrants on Thursday, said Pastor Hector Ramirez. That’s the designated day he welcomes migrant families released by federal authorities.
“She was upset, very annoyed at what we were doing,” he said. “She was yelling, saying we did not have permission to do what we were doing, and said she was going to call the authorities on us.”
Pastor Ramirez said the incident was only verbal. After she refused to leave, he called the police.
Mesa Police tell 12News they did respond to a disturbance call, but the woman had left and was not located.
That incident is just one of many that churches have endured in the past. Pastor Ramirez said last year, a group of armed men harassed his congregation.
In 2019, Pastor Campos was one of many pastors and churches who sued the AZ Patriots organization after receiving threatening calls. Ultimately the group agreed to back down and not trespass on church properties.
A jumping point
The churches and other local non-profits in Arizona serve as a trampoline per se for people who have migrated to the United States.
Estefania Carolina said she left her native Ecuador after getting threats to kill and rape her from local gangs. She made the journey with her two children, one toddler and an infant.
“The trip is very hard, even more difficult with kids,” she told 12News as she stayed at Iglesia Cristiana El Buen Pastor in Mesa. “When we crossed one of the rivers, I almost lost my son. It was very scary. Thankfully we made it here and were blessed for all the help.”
Carolina’s destination is New York, where she will reunite with her sister.
The Border
Get the latest news and updates on the 12News coverage of the U.S./Mexico border.