Colombia established the first shelter for Venezuelans escaping their country’s stifling economic crisis. The bare-bones shelter opened Saturday near the border city of Cucuta will provide shelter of up to 48 hours for 120 people a day. Thousands of Venezuelans have poured across the border to flee the instability at home. Pregnant mothers, the elderly and minors who entered the country legally will be given priority. It will be administered by the Red Cross. Cucuta has been overwhelmed in recent weeks by an increasingly large exodus of Venezuelans. Many are sleeping on the streets and crime in the city has spiked as gangs recruit and take advantage of the desperate migrants. Some 35,000 Venezuelans cross into Colombia each day, many of them settling in with relatives or making short trips to buy food and medicine that has been scarce for years back home. But the numbers have surged in recent months, with an estimated 200,000 now looking to stay, as four-digit inflation plunges the oil-rich nation deeper into the abyss. Not all of them have been embraced amid growing hysteria that the economic refugees are stealing jobs and overwhelming already-stretched resources. Last week, authorities deported 130 Venezuelans who entered the country illegally and were sleeping outdoors on a basketball court in Cucuta. Migration authorities are also seeking to toughen enforcement of migration laws even as it extends from 90 days to two years the amount of time Venezuelans can remain in the country. "We are trying to be as generous as possible but we also must have order," Foreign Minister Maria Holguin said this week after a special cabinet meeting to discuss the volatile situation. President Juan Manuel Santos is expected to travel Thursday to Cucuta to review contingency plans for the burgeoning humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, Venezuelas ruling socialist party has officially tapped President Nicolas Maduro as its candidate for this years election. Socialist party chief Diosdado Cabello on Friday announced the unanimous decision. The government has said the election will be held by the end of April. Maduro succeeded the late President Hugo Chavez, leading the oil-rich country into a deepening crisis marked by soaring inflation and shortages of food and medicine. The United States says it will reject the "snap" election. Several Latin America countries condemned holding a vote before Maduros government and its political opposition complete negotiations aimed at resolving the crisis. Venezuelas opposition coalition hasnt selected a candidate or decided if it will participate. Maduro says that in his second term hell wean Venezuelas economy off of oil production.