Harlingen shelter for migrant children to layoff nearly 150 workers next month

By the end of March, 148 workers at a faith-based nonprofit in Harlingen that serves migrant children are expected to lose their jobs, according to state regulatory filings. 

San Antonio-based Compass Connections filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act letter with the state explaining that there’s been a decrease in migrant shelter bed demand. 

“We recognize that this reduction is not attributed to our success as a program, but rather directly attributed to President Trump’s strong border security policies, which have deterred border crossings and resulted in a significant decrease in demand for shelter bed capacity,” Compass Connections President Sonya Thompson said in the letter. 

The San Antonio nonprofit appeared to be leasing space on the Valley Baptist Missions Education Center campus at 3700 E. Harrison Ave. in Harlingen, records show. 

In fiscal year 2018, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 23,757 unaccompanied immigrant children in the Rio Grande sector. The following year, the number of children grew more than 45% to 34,523 in fiscal year 2019. That volume has fluctuated, according to federal enforcement records. In fiscal year 2020, 10,258 children were apprehended. In fiscal year 2021, 20,964 children were apprehended. 

But there’s been a notable decline since fiscal year 2023. 

For example, CBP found 4,700 unaccompanied minors in the Rio Grande Valley in December 2023. That dropped to 2,300 in December 2024 and 2025. By December 2026, CBP only found 152 unaccompanied minors in the Valley. 

The spike, then the decline, of minors crossing the border reflects the nonprofit’s operations. 

In 2023, Compass Connections received more than $250 million in grant funding by U.S. Health and Human Services for federal unaccompanied children and refugee assistance programs. That funding was expected to run out on March 31, records show. 

“While an employer never seeks to lose staff; we are grateful that the government is exercising such fiscal prudency with taxpayer funds,” Thompson continued. 

The nonprofit had more than 4,800 employees in 2023, according to its IRS regulatory filings. That same year, the nonprofit’s total revenue of $434 million wasn’t enough to cover its costs of $436 million, leaving it $2 million in the red. Its total assets were still $28 million, but liabilities were $32 million, which also meant a negative $3.3 million in net assets in 2023. 

The organization came under fire from top ranking Republicans, such as U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who questioned the suitability of some of the people that children were placed with during the Biden administration era program. 

In 2025, Trump restructured and effectively eliminated most of the U.S. refugee resettlement program.

Still, Compass Connections appears to be operating in other cities and is hiring in San Antonio, Robstown, Dallas, Grande Prairie and El Paso. 

Nonprofits offering similar social service programs for migrant children across the Rio Grande Valleylaid off hundreds of workers in 2025. 

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