San Diego County Supervisors Tuesday rejected a motion that would ask the federal government to temporarily shut down the border during an unprecedented surge in migrants seeking asylum.
The board instead voted to show its support for a bipartisan immigration reform bill.
The vote came one week after the county closed down a migrant welcome center where people who just crossed the border could charge cell phones, get directions and eat a meal before heading to their final destinations. The closure led to hundreds of migrants being bussed to transportation centers to fend for themselves.
San Diego Border Issues
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
“Some people here get dropped off and they don’t even know they’re in San Diego County,” said Pedro Rios who works with the American Friends Service Committee. “That’s why it’s important for there to be coordination by all levels of government, because people who are seeking asylum should not be abandoned."
The American Friends Service Committee is one of several nongovernmental organizations, or NGO’s, trying to help migrants transition into the United States as they await court dates and asylum hearings.
“The fix for this whole thing is to enforce our laws,” said Supervisor Jim Desmond, a critic of open borders. “We’ve got laws, we’ve got a system in place, we have embassies all around the world, we have an online system. You can apply for asylum, you can apply for visas."
Desmond did not believe the motion to close the border would pass because Tijuana and San Diego are so economically dependent on one another. He told reporters he does support a declaration to ask the federal government to help finance a migrant transition center like the one that closed in late February.
San Diego County paid $6 million to keep the center open for four months, money, the supervisors said, they could no longer afford to pay, especially in light of the amount of money needed to help San Diego County residents who lost everything in January’s flooding.
Board of Supervisors’ chair Nora Vargas told NBC7 that the county is dealing with a humanitarian crisis.
“We’re trying to do the best we can to help those in need," Vargas said.
That help includes fighting for federal funding to help migrants land on their feet.
The board passed both items on their agenda dealing with the border. They will support a bipartisan immigration reform bill and will also continue to search for federal funding sources to help the county handle the influx of migrants.
