SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Migrant shelters in Tijuana are reporting funding shortages as a result of the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, being gutted by the Trump administration.
Since the 1960s, it has administered and distributed billions of dollars in foreign aid for health, education, water and food distribution programs worldwide.
Recently, President Donald Trump ordered the organization be shut down as a cost-cutting measure, calling it wasteful and a promoter of a liberal agenda.
He also said the group funds terrorist groups, something USAID administrators deny.
One group that was receiving help was the Mexico-based Centro 32, which has a branch in Tijuana.
On its website, the organization claims to support and provide integral services for migrants including single mothers, unaccompanied children, young adults and the LGBTIQ+ community.
It collected USAID money meant for migrant shelters in places such as Baja California.
With the money drying up, Centro 32’s Lea Castillo Medrano says they are now looking for alternative sources of funding, something shelters are also doing on their own.
“Almost all shelters in Tijuana receive no funding from Mexico’s federal government,” Castillo Medrano said. “Shelters were able to get food and toiletries with the money, but without it, they can’t afford to purchase meals.”
She added that other organizations that provide humanitarian assistance are also being impacted and have paused several programs while laying off workers.
“This makes the issue much worse, we already have a crisis and now we’ll have fewer services and options to help migrants.”
Judith Cabrera, director of the Border Line Crisis shelter, says they don’t depend heavily on USAID funds, but knows many others that can’t survive without it.
“They used to provide many shelters with a stipend for food, but it was for very basic items, and it was the only source for fresh meals, now that’s gone,” Cabrera said. “This will reduce options for many migrants who now don’t have access to basic services.”
According to Cabrera, shelters are launching fundraisers and chasing contributions.
She also stated shelters that can’t provide basis needs to migrants are transferring them to other facilities.
“We have to be better organized because this is just a fraction of what’s to come in the future,” Cabrera said.
According to the Associated Press, a government watchdog warned Monday that USAID has lost almost all ability to track $8.2 billion in unspent humanitarian aid following the Trump administration’s foreign funding freeze and idling of staffers. On Friday, a federal judge ordered a temporary halt to plans to pull thousands of agency staffers off the job.
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