EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Residents of a southeast Juarez neighborhood are demanding the government call off plans to build a migrant shelter near their children’s schools.
The residents of Praderas del Sol on Wednesday took cardboard signs to the construction zone and placed themselves in front of heavy machines grading the soil, momentarily halting construction.
“We are here to stop the construction of this shelter for migrants. It is something we don’t need,” said Beatriz Paredes, whose children attend the nearby elementary and middle schools. “We will be affected, and the children will be affected. A lot of children walk (to school) by themselves. We are not saying they (the migrants) are bad, but we don’t know what habits they have.”
The facility under construction is one of five multipurpose centers Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DIF), a family services agency, is building throughout Juarez to shelter single women, moms with their children fleeing domestic violence, and migrants passing through the city.