Incoming arctic storm places Latino migrants crossing southwest border at serious risk

An NBC News investigation revealed on Wednesday that Latino migrants who recently crossed the border could be at serious risk from imminent arctic temperatures if they have not yet found shelter.

As the Northeast prepares for an incoming arctic storm that could impact temperatures as far south as Florida and Texas, a scenario many migrants were not prepared for.

In a series of interviews, the network talked to several Latinos who recently crossed the border in Texas, many of whom were expecting to encounter the same warm climate from where they fled.

"I didn't know about the cold," said one woman in El Paso who was only identified as Griselda. The woman, who migrated from Venezuela with her two children, ages 8 and 6, told NBC News she only had light winter clothes. The woman, who purportedly crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday was interviewed at an area near a Greyhound bus station and has managed to get sleeping quarters in the evenings at a nearby shelter.

The city is expected to encounter below freezing temperatures on Thursday with the possibility of wind and snow in other parts of Texas.  

While officials have been trying to herd migrants to other municipalities to take advantage of their shelter options, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said the city was hoping to use schools for housing over Christmas Break.

The city has said that they are using buses to relocate migrants who are sleeping outside freezing temperatures to find them shelter, but some who are skeptical have stayed on the street.

To date, Texas officials said they have so far relocated 3,854 migrants to shelters.

One migrant from Cuba, Moisés Vásquez, who has been sleeping on a sidewalk by the bus station left his country four years ago. His journey included a three year working stint in Uruguay until he saved enough money to trek through Central America up to the U.S. southwest border. NBC reported he is hoping to get a job in the U.S. and help his children here so they can escape the communist dictatorship.

“I want to have a tranquil life and bring my family,” he told MSNBC and NBC News anchor José Díaz-Balart in an interview.

Despite those hopes, Vásquez did not know about the upcoming winter storm, a reality he will have to soon face unless he relocates from the bus station where he’s been sleeping.

A 32-year old immigrant only identified as Marvin, who journeyed across the border from Nicaragua with his sister, has been staying at a local home since Tuesday night. The Texan resident opened her door to the siblings once she learned they had no money, cellphone or travel options.

Texas' power grid failed in a freeze in 2021, killing more than 200 who were left without power. In a news conference Wednesday, Gov. Abbott reassured the state that the power grid would stay online this time. 

Piles of sweaters, coats and other clothing had been assembled at the Greyhound bus station to help migrants endure the frigid temperatures. Random El Paso residents also brought by food and clothes to migrants.

Another concern the migrants—and Texan residents face—is the possibility of a power failure. In 2021, Texas’s electrical grid failed during a similar freeze leaving more than 200 dead after they lost power and heat for their homes. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that the state that the power grid would stay online this time. 

The Texas governor also used National Guardsmen and State Troopers to fortify barricades along the Rio Grande border on Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday it had returned 3,400 people to Mexico and sent 6,000 to other Border Patrol sectors for immigration proceedings.