McALLEN, Texas — Municipal leaders are instructing staff to work with local charities to expand a new migrant tent facility while scouting for additional locations on Wednesday. The City built the first facility overnight to take in migrants released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The official announcement also disclosed that more than 1,500 migrants released locally have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last “seven days.”

A prepared statement circulated on Wednesday afternoon confirmed an initial report by Breitbart Texas about the first facility that went up on Tuesday night. McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos (R) made national headlines after winning his political race in June in an area dominated by Democrats.

In the statement, the City revealed that its commission had acted following a disaster declaration and ordered its staff “to assist local non-governmental organizations to swiftly expand their operations, including identifying additional locations for emergency shelter should the need arise.” The commission also instructed its staff “to demand relief from the federal government for the alarming number of immigrants that are being released into the city of McAllen.”

According to the City, a respite center run by Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley provides basic necessities such as clothing, shoes, meals, showers, first aid, and a safe place for migrants released by the federal government. Most head to the local bus station from there and leave the city in a matter of days.

Since the transition to the Biden Administration, the number of migrants arriving to the border and released has risen to record-setting levels. The City of McAllen claims 87,000 migrants were released within its boundaries in 2021.

City officials revealed that since the respite center has a limited capacity, they saw a high probability of hundreds of migrants sleeping on the streets.

“It was at this point that McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos saw no option other than to declare a Local State of Disaster in McAllen so the City of McAllen could obtain necessary county and state resources to address the situation that it did not create,” the prepared statement revealed.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.