This week, hundreds of migrants were taken from the border and dropped at transit centers across San Diego. The move came in the wake of the Supreme Court extension of Title 42, a pandemic-era program that allows the U.S. to expel asylum seekers more quickly, and now, at least one local leader is calling for state and federal assistance.
Migrants were bused to transit hubs across the county in San Diego, Oceanside, and El Cajon.
On Thursday, the office of San Diego County District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond said there was no increase in the number of migrants transported from the U.S-Mexico border since Dec. 23. So far, his office has shared that nearly 1,000 in total have been transported.
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Desmond tweeted an update on the situation Thursday, tweeting: "Almost all of the migrants who have been dropped off in San Diego County have been helped. The majority needed transportation, with a few needing housing for a couple days."
The supervisor added that while the temporary issues were addressed, the larger issue remains. District 2 Supervisor Joel Anderson agrees: ”Well, dropping people off without services, without clothing, shelter, food, healthcare — that’s abandoned."
Both Anderson and Desmond have commented that they were unaware of when, exactly, migrants were dropped off. NBC7 reached out to the San Diego Sector of Customs & Border Protection and asked why that was but did not receive a response.
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Jewish Family Service of San Diego, a local agency that has taken in 300 asylum seekers a day, is also being stretched thin and reaching capacity. The organization directed NBC7 to its website for the following statement: “We call on the federal government to prioritize rebuilding our country’s broken asylum and immigration systems, including improved processes for migrant shelter services across the border region.”
Anderson sent two letters, one to Gov. Gavin Newsom and the other to President Joe Biden, asking for resources to handle the influx of asylum seekers. Part of Anderson's plan to get more resources to the community includes applying for funding from FEMA.
"We have to bid and present plans, and other communities are going to be competing with us for that money, but we’re further ahead than we were last week," Anderson said.
