Daniel Borunda

El Paso Times

Two new shelters have opened to help Cuban immigrants arriving in El Paso, the Roman Catholic Diocese of El Paso said Wednesday.

Families will be housed at St. Francis Xavier (also known as San Javier) at 519 S. Latta St. near the Bridge of the Americas. There is a strong need for volunteers at that location because that church is an older community, a diocese spokeswoman said.

Male immigrants will be sheltered at Roger Bacon Seminary, 2400 Marr St. in the Austin Terrace area of Central El Paso.

The St. Francis Xavier shelter opened Tuesday night and the seminary shelter opened Wednesday morning.

A shelter at the Houchen Community Center will remain open at 609 Tays St. in South El Paso, officials said.

There is a need for donations of food and personal hygiene items. Officials asked that no more clothes be donated because there is no space or enough volunteers to sift through it.

The diocese said that monetary donations can be made to a GoFundMe online account at gofundme.com/2463ardg

Sun Metro has a van running from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. from the international bridges to the shelters to help immigrants arriving at night, officials said.

The Diocese of El Paso cautioned about reports of people near the bridges offering arriving immigrants private transportation for a fee to the city of their choice. The diocese does not know if the offers are legitimate.

The diocese has said that two planes with at least 150 Cubans each are expected to arrive in Juárez daily.

Thousands of Cubans have traveled to Latin American countries and then to Mexico to head to the U.S. because of fears that warming diplomatic relations between Cuba and the U.S. will mean the end of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, which gives preferential treatment to Cuban immigrants.

For more information on volunteering, dropping off donations or buying bus tickets for the Cuban immigrants, call Annunciation House at 545-4509.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at 546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter.