Tucked inside a classroom at Columbus Global Academy are bins and desks littered with clothing, toys, books, dishes and other household items intended for immigrant families expected to come to the city.
Local immigrant advocates and volunteers have been collecting everyday items in anticipation of an influx of migrants coming to the area after President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated this week. Biden has said he will quickly lift a controversial Trump administration policy that has left thousands of asylum-seekers trapped across the border in Mexico.
The "Remain in Mexico policy," announced in January 2019 and officially called Migrant Protection Protocols, means immigrants seeking asylum in the United States are not permitted to live in the country while they go through immigration court proceedings as they have for years, but must stay in Mexico, even if they are not from there.