Cities across the Rio Grande Valley have been spending less money helping migrants because less of them are being dropped off by Border Patrol.

Brownsville and McAllen have asked for federal reimbursement to make up the cost in the past. Officials with both cities told Channel 5 News they may not need to ask for more reimbursements.

Brownsville Commissioner At Large Tino Villarreal said the city relied on reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for the third party company that helps them guide migrants.

“As those invoices come to us, we pass them on through to FEMA — we're almost fully reimbursed,” Villarreal said. “We have a couple of pending ones with FEMA, but we've also seen the immigrant flow decrease.”

Brownsville officials said at one point in 2023, the city was seeing up to 20,000 migrants a week.

On Wednesday, only three migrants were seen entering the migrant care facility in downtown Brownsville.

McAllen City Manager Jeff Johnston said in one month alone, 30,000 migrants were helped by the city in 2021.

It’s a cost that takes a toll on city funds.

“It was very difficult for us,” Johnston said. “We saw reimbursement — didn't get everything reimbursed — and that was the issue. The local taxpayers should not have to bear the brunt of this issue that really originates at the federal level."

McAllen has received around $45 million in reimbursements from FEMA for migrant care over the last five years.

With the number of migrants dropping, both cities expect to need fewer reimbursements.

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