Immigration activists in San Diego, California, are celebrating $39 million in additional federal funding for illegal border crossers, but some feel the money is being wasted.
About $20 million of the funding comes from the Department of Homeland Security. According to KGTV, the program is intended to assist immigrants awaiting court decisions in their immigration proceedings after federal agents drop them off in the county. report April 12.
Congressman Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) celebrated the funding, saying, “This funding ensures we have the resources we need to continue our important work of providing food, shelter, and other critical services to immigrant communities. It will help us do that.”
County Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas also highlighted the funding, asserting that it will be used to create more sustainable immigrant transition centers.
The city’s last migrant welcome center ran out of funds and closed on February 22, forcing all newcomers to leave Border Patrol buses and dump them on the streets.
But buses operated by Biden’s Border Patrol kept coming.
Since just December, the Border Patrol has Dropped There are 42,000 undocumented immigrants in San Diego County, overwhelming the city and local non-governmental organizations.
Not all county officials were excited about Biden opening up the money.
District 5 Superintendent Jim Desmond slammed the plan, saying it was a poor use of funds.
“I would like to see money spent on securing the border and making sure Border Patrol stops people or only lets enough people into the country that they can control,” Desmond argued.
San Diego County and local NGOs are getting $38 million to support immigration efforts. Money is not the issue. It’s about obeying the law and securing our borders.
More than 125,000 immigrants have been dropped off in San Diego in the past six months, and this number will continue… pic.twitter.com/ovTJof0Qq
— Supervisor Jim Desmond (@jim_desmond) April 15, 2024
Desmond has been speaking out for months.
In September, for example, Biden said the U.S. immigration system was “dysfunctional” amid the ongoing border crisis.
“We’re not an immigration agency. We don’t have these types of resources,” he said of San Diego’s role in the crisis. “The best cure would be to stop admitting people for a while when we reach capacity. We need a better system. Our immigration system has failed. It’s broken. This is immigration. That’s not the way to run the system.”
In February, Desmond accused the Biden administration of continuing the crisis.
“The federal government has to manage the mess it has created,” Desmond said. “We need our borders to be secure and laws to be followed, including asylum cases being heard on a case-by-case basis, not just mass releases. But in the meantime, we need the federal government to allow this. If so, the federal government must fund the mess it has caused.”
The San Diego area reported the second-highest number of immigrant arrests in March. More than 33,000 people were arrested, up from about 31,560 in February. Concerns increased by more than 85% in February compared to a year ago.
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