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Fate of caravan migrants uncertain as Mexico closes shelter near U.S. border

Most of the 1,700 migrants were bused to neighboring cities in Mexico.

WESLACO, Texas — The shelter holding the migrant caravan across from the Texas border closed Tuesday.

Most of the roughly 1,700 migrants have moved out of the shelter and into other cities in Mexico, according to Piedras Negras City Mayor Claudio Bres.

Mexican immigration officials issued work visas and permits to most of the migrants over the past two weeks.

The permits allowed migrants to leave the shelter and roam the country while they resolve their immigration status or make their asylum claims across the border in the U.S.

Credit: Coahuila Government
Migrants make a line at a government-run shelter in Piedras Negras, Mexico

Nearly 500 members of the caravan did not qualify for these permits and have 30 days to leave Mexico.

Bres said 25 people were deported following disturbances that broke out at the shelter last week, among them MS-13 gang members.

Credit: City of Piedras Negras
Piedras Negras Mayor Claudio Bres speaks to media about deported MS-13 gang members in the migrant caravan.

Migrants who have left the shelter have split into smaller groups who are traveling to other nearby cities and ports of entry across the border. Others chose to cross the border illegally through the Rio Grande.

Maverick County Judge David Saucedo and Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber confirmed that the Texas Department of Public Safety is withdrawing about 250 out of the 500 troopers deployed to Eagle Pass to aid U.S. Border Patrol with border security.

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