Hospital Strained by Influx of Illegal Immigrants: Del Rio Mayor

DEL RIO, Texas—The flood of illegal immigrants that has crossed over the Rio Grande River since mid-September is straining the hospital and other resources in this small Texas border city.

Del Rio has a population of about 35,000. Some 16,000 illegal aliens have entered the city in the past week or so, according to Texas officials.

The hospital is concerned about the situation, Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano, a Democrat, told The Epoch Times.

“What’s happening is that last week, for example, we had a pregnant woman deliver a baby and she turned out to be positive [for COVID-19], and so was her infant newborn. And so that takes hospital space that’s very valuable and limited in our community offline, and that raises another set of issues locally,” he said.

Val Verde County Judge Lewis Owens raised similar concerns over the weekend. “I can tell you our hospital’s stretched; they can’t catch a break,” he said in a video message to county residents.”

Del Rio has one hospital, one emergency center, one medical center, and a clinic.