WASHINGTON D.C., DC — A D.C.-based advocate says the nation's capital could soon start to see migrant encampments. This comes after Mayor Muriel Bowser said the hotels being used as shelters for asylum seekers are at capacity.
"It is more than likely that we'll start seeing tents in D.C. like I saw tents at the border. It is a political choice, and it's unacceptable. We have to do better," said Amy Fischer from Brownsville, Texas.
Fischer who volunteers with the Mutual Solidarity Aid Migrant Network receiving migrant families in D.C. says she was able to witness the southern border before and after Title 42. The pandemic-era policy that allows immigration officials to turn back migrants at the Southern Border expired Thursday just before midnight.
"There was no rush to the border this morning, you know?," said Fischer about the end of Title 42. "People presented at the border because they had appointments that they had previously scheduled."
Fischer says she crossed the border over to Matamoros, Mexico where migrants have established makeshift camps. She says some of them have been there for months.
"There are people including small children living in tents with poor sanitation. It's a public health crisis. It's a humanitarian crisis," Fischer told WUSA9.
A crisis she is concerned is already starting in the District, with families being turned away from the hotels that are being used as migrant shelters.
Mayor Bowser said during a Monday news conference, that the hotels were at capacity, "We have limited space. We have hit those numbers in the last week," she said.
Migrants living in one of the Northeast D.C. hotels and advocate groups say that there are vacancies as some families have moved out, but have been told the rooms will not be filled.
At least 20 families told WUSA9 that they have been turned away and are forced to sleep on the street.
We reached out to the Mayor's office to get numbers about how many people are currently being housed at the shelters, but our request was declined. Bowser's office also declined to confirm whether families continue to be turned away.
Hengelbert, a Venezuelan asylum seeker says he was told there were no rooms available for him and his 11-year-old daughter. They have been sleeping in a borrowed car. "We went through a lot to get here, and just thought we would get some help, at least a room and an opportunity for a better education for her," he told WUSA9.
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