SAN ANTONIO – The news announced Monday morning about the impending closure of San Antonio’s Migrant Resource Center is coming as a relief to at least one woman who lives nearby.
“Lots of relief. The migrants didn’t bother you, but it was just a lot of relief,” said Maria Arredondo, who lives in the Shearer Hills neighborhood, just behind the Migrant Resource Center.
Since the center opened in 2022, Arredondo said she has felt uneasy traveling through the area along San Pedro Avenue near Oblate Drive.
“You just saw people roaming everywhere, in McDonald’s, all in that little area over there,” Arredondo said. “People I didn’t know. And you didn’t know whether you could trust them or not, you know? There were just so many.”
Those images, however, will quickly become distant memories.
Gone are the crowds that once spilled out of the Migrant Resource Center onto sidewalks outside nearby businesses.
City Manager Erik Walsh said Monday that the city decided to close the Migrant Resource Center for that exact reason.
Officials said they have already begun the first step in its phase-out process, which includes not accepting any more new arrivals at the center.
“We always knew that we would reach the point where it was no longer needed,” Walsh said. “It certainly doesn’t make sense for us to be spending that much money.”
Walsh said the city has spent $34.9 million of the $47.2 million awarded by the federal government.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is in charge of reimbursing the city for the money it has spent. The city is still awaiting a final $12.4 million reimbursement.
Meanwhile, at the Migrant Resource Center, the population numbers have declined.
As of Monday morning, Walsh said 88 people were left inside the facility, which can hold more than 700 people.
The city began taking in the migrants during a massive influx of people. Many of them were from South America and were headed to family or other sponsors across the United States.
Walsh said the Migrant Resource Center was established as a way to handle the hundreds who were coming through town.
“Upwards of 700, 800, 900, 1,100 and 1,200 people were coming through San Antonio,” Walsh said. “They were sleeping outside the airport, sleeping outside downtown. This was our attempt to organize.”
In recent weeks, Walsh said the numbers have dwindled to about 12 people per day. On Sunday, Walsh said only nine people arrived.
As of Monday, Walsh said 68 of the remaining 88 people in the center already had secured travel arrangements.
Once the others are taken care of, the city manager said the center will close down for good.
Walsh estimated that the closure could happen by the end of the week, if not sooner.
More related coverage of this story on KSAT:
City of San Antonio to shut down Migrant Resource Center
Business owners near Migrant Resource Center notice sharp drop in migrants