SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — As San Diego’s City Hall moves forward with a sweeping ban outlawing homeless escapements in most public places, an advocate is raising alarm bells about migrants who could be arrested under the controversial new ordinance.
“These criminal convictions and arrests can have a negative impact on individuals’ immigration cases including the right to seek asylum in an immigration court,” said Paulina Reyes, chair of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium.
Reyes was one of dozens of people who came out to San Diego’s City Hall on Tuesday to beg the council to have a change of heart and stop the ordinance banning encampments from proceeding.
The ordinance, which council approved on June 13th in a 5-4 vote, got final approval on Tuesday and will now head to Mayor Todd Gloria to sign into law.
It bans homeless encampments from most public places if there are shelter beds available.
Even if beds aren’t available, encampments will be prohibited from parks, near schools, transit hubs and parks.
Reyes, who is an immigration attorney, said she was deeply concerned about what would happen to migrants who are released onto San Diego streets by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.
She said migrants have routinely been released onto city streets in the past and are left with no choice but to sleep outside.
She feared if a migrant gets a misdemeanor, which the ordinance allows if someone’s refused shelter multiple times, their chances of staying in the U.S. could be diminished.
“It can also have a negative impact on individuals seeking lawful permanent residence and naturalizations because all criminal convictions and arrests have to be disclosed on applications.”
Councilmember Stephen Whitburn who brought the ordinance forward said the growing number of encampments filling many city streets have proven to be unhealthy and unsafe.
“We have had people hit by cars, we have people dying on a daily basis from fentanyl overdoses, they're preyed upon by drug dealers.”
Whitburn said the problem has gotten so bad some people have started to move out of downtown San Diego.
He said once the ordinance takes effect, the city will start to implement it in steps starting with a total ban on camps within schools and parks.
“We will see enforcement."
