Photo: U.S. Embassy

By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF     

Guardsmen from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast  partnered with Mexico’s Desarrollo Integral para la Familia (DIF) family services program on Monday, March 26, to help out at the temporary shelter for migrant minors in Tapachula, Chiapas.

The Coast Guardsmen assisted with renovation projects at the shelter, which was made possible through the partnership between the U.S. Department of State, DIF Federal and the National Immigration Agency (INM).

Funded by the U.S. Northern Command humanitarian assistance program, the project upgraded the shelter’s interior and exterior.

The shelter exists as a safe facility for unaccompanied minors from Central America while their migration cases are reviewed.

While residing in the shelter, children receive education, medical and psychological attention and recreational programs ranging from cooking classes to training in printing techniques.

The shelter opened in 2005.

Since that time, the number of unaccompanied minors arriving in Mexico from Central America requiring secure accommodations and food has dramatically increased.