SAN DIEGO, Calif. — U.S. Border Patrol has more than twice as many migrants as it can hold in the San Diego area of the southern border, and migrants there thanked President Biden for allowing them into the country.
Government processing centers in the region were at 245% capacity, with 1,812 migrants being held as of Friday in facilities normally scheduled to hold 750 people, according to agency data obtained exclusively by The Post. has been done.
Due to the influx of migrants and the fact that they can only be detained for 72 hours, more than 125,000 migrants have been released onto San Diego streets since September.
Migrants who disembarked from Border Patrol buses this week told the paper they came from a variety of countries, from China, India and Egypt to Jordan, Mauritania and Colombia.
“Thank you America, thank you Mr. President of the United States,” the Indian immigrant said after being dropped off by the Border Patrol and allowed to enter the United States.
Families or immigrants from China told the Post they paid $70,000 to come to the United States via Thailand and Turkey.
They shared that they were going to an address in Orlando and wrote it on a small piece of paper.
“We arrived here by following the same route as us in China,” one Chinese man said, adding that he had come to visit relatives.
Other migrants released from Border Patrol custody were asked where they were and directions to the airport before volunteers took them to a local trolley.
With so many people coming, there is concern among rank-and-file Border Patrol officials that the agency won’t be able to properly screen everyone before setting court dates and releasing them. It has spread.
“We have to keep in mind that all we know is what is in the database, but if they come from another country, without the cooperation of the United States, they will We don’t know what their background is,” Manny Bayon, chairman of the San Diego Division of the National Border Patrol Council, told the Post.
In San Ysidro, part of the San Diego area, Border Patrol arrested and released an Afghan national on a terrorist watch list in March 2023.
Nearly a year later, the FBI notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that he was a suspected member of the U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization Hizb-i-Islam.
“This has a huge impact on morale because obviously we took an oath to protect the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Now it has no effect on anyone coming to the United States,” Bayonne said. He talked about mass releases and a lack of proper scrutiny.
Traffic is increasing in San Diego and decreasing in other areas of the border. In Texas, Border Patrol processing facilities are at capacity as the state continues to install razor wire and fences to deter illegal immigration.
San Diego County Superintendent Jim Desmond told the Post that California’s status as a sanctuary state, coupled with the federal government’s ability to release large numbers into local communities, has led to an increase in migrants coming to the area. He said the number is increasing.
“People are coming into the country illegally. We’re not enforcing the law,” Desmond said.
