With the expiration of Title 42, organizations in North Texas are anticipating an increase in migrants seeking asylum. At Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, they’ll prepare around the clock for new arrivals.
Oak Lawn United Methodist Church has a longtime partnership Dallas Responds. Together, they’ve come up with a system to help meet the needs of migrants and provide some relief for Texas border towns.
“The preparation happens at several levels. One is to prepare to be able to receive our guests,” said Almas Muscatwalla, a border liaison who is heavily involved with the operations.
Now, Title 42 has entered the conversation and they plan to adjust as needed.
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“We should expect a very well-coordinated operation from El Paso to Dallas where we are informed about when the buses are going to arrive, who’s going to be arriving,” said Muscatwalla.
As of Tuesday of this week, a U.S. official report said there were some 10,000 encounters with migrants at the Texas border daily. Already, Oak Lawn United Methodist and Dallas Responds take in roughly 60 migrants each week. They say they’re prepared to increase capacity to roughly 100 migrants each day Monday-Friday.
The stop at the church is brief. Associate Pastor Isabel Marquez said asylum seekers will be there no more than 24 hours, before they’re off to their destination, and another bus comes in. Both Marquez and Muscatwalla said the impact on North Texas will be nowhere near what people are seeing at the border; people seeking asylum lining the streets day and night.
They said what North Texas will receive is just a drop in the bucket in comparison, but it is necessary work.
“We’ve been talking to volunteers,” said Marquez. “We’ve been collecting items like clothing and specialty meals if necessary and just doing things that we do gladly.”
As preparations continue, they said the first bus could arrive as on their property as early as Friday morning.
