SAN ANTONIO — Despite being cleared at least two times a day, the lobby at Catholic Charities remained filled with donations. For Catholic Charities CEO Antonio Fernandez, that was good sign. After his trip to Washington D.C., he realized there is still a lot more work to do.
"We're seeing record numbers, and not even Border Patrol can understand why this is happening," Fernandez told KENS 5.
Fernandez traveled to the nation's capitol earlier this month to meet with politicians on both sides, as well U.S Customs and Border Protection, to discuss the spike in migrants at the border.
Statistics provided to KENS 5 by Fernandez show 92,000 people were apprehended from the southwest border last month. The same time last year, just 37,000 were apprehended.
"At the end of the day, we're not asking why, but we're asking 'how do we help these people?'" Fernandez said.
On Thursday, DHS announced the building of temporary facilities in El Paso and Donna to accommodate the massive amount of migrants being apprehended at the border each day.
"From my discussions here at the border from local enforcement, with mayors, with Catholic Charities and Bishop Flores, it is clear that all of our resources are being stretched thin," Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan said at a press conference in McAllen last week.
Catholic Charities said they will do their best to continue to provide those resources as they look to the community for support.
"Hopefully, they will understand this is a humanitarian problem," Fernandez said.