The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is asking the Biden administration for more resources as the number of migrants grows each day at the border.
"We need to be able to increase the migrant shelter capacity that's our message to the federal government,” said Chairwoman Nora Vargas. She called the situation at the border a “humanitarian crisis.
Vargas says officials are trying to avoid having migrants released onto San Diego streets, which she said happened just three months ago before the current surge started.
Supervisor Jim Desmond said he is concerned Border Patrol is going to be overwhelmed and drop off migrants at transit centers around San Diego County after Title 42 ends at 11:50 p.m. Thursday night.
Title 42 is the Trump-era policy that allowed border agents to turn away nearly three million asylum seekers due to the COVID emergency. Desmond said “Last time, we only had about a two-hour warning from Border Patrol of when a bus load was going to be coming to a specific site.”
Immigration attorneys say migrants are being misled to think it’ll be easier to get asylum when the policy sunsets. Instead, some say depending on an individual’s circumstances, it could get even harder.
Across the border in Tijuana, some 14,000 migrants are waiting to come over into the United States, said Enrique Lucero, director of migrant services for the city. "This is a big challenge for Tijuana right now." Lucero told reporting partner 10News that migrants are using ladders to jump the American border wall in numbers he’s never seen before. He said many migrants have been misinformed on TikTok and Facebook videos that now is the time to come to America.
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