SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Following a week in which the San Diego region again became the number-one area along the southern border for migrant arrests, San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond lashed out Thursday at policies he said made the region "the path of least resistance for illegal immigration."
According to a post by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Patricia D. McGurk-Daniel on X -- formerly known as Twitter -- San Diego saw 8,959 apprehensions of people crossing the border for the week ending April 16, surpassing previous top crossing spot Tucson by 2,400 arrests.
The numbers increased last week, when CBP officers apprehended 9,513 individuals from 74 countries, including 218 unaccompanied minors.
San Diego, for the first time since the late 1990s, is now the top region in the country for migrant arrests. According to CBP data, the last time the region outpaced the rest of the country's nine southern border regions for a month was October 1999 and the last year the region arrested the most migrants was back in 1997.
Desmond said that on Wednesday alone, "Border Patrol apprehended 2,000 illegal border crossers within the San Diego sector, including 206 Chinese nationals."
"Human smugglers have identified California, particularly the San Diego border sector, as the path of least resistance for illegal immigration," he said. "Border Patrol has inadvertently become the `Uber' for migrants entering San Diego County, and the county is the travel agent."
According to McGurk-Daniel, CBP officers intervened in 35 possible human smuggling operations in the San Diego County region and seized 154 pounds of cocaine, 238 pounds of methamphetamine, nearly 37 pounds of fentanyl and seven firearms.
Earlier this month, more than $39 million in Shelter and Services Program funding was announced for San Diego as part of federal monies authorized by Congress to support communities that are providing services to migrants.
"The San Diego area has a long tradition of welcoming individuals seeking asylum and refuge with open arms. I'm proud to have worked alongside my San Diego delegation colleagues to secure this critical funding for communities and organizations aiding migrants," said Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego. "This funding will help make sure they have the resources they need to continue their important work to provide migrant communities with food, shelter and other critical services."
The county of San Diego and the Catholic Diocese of San Diego County were both awarded $19,592,554 in SSP funding, which comes from the Department of Homeland Security, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The agencies awarded $300 million nationally.
Desmond used fiery language responding to the federal funding, describing it as "concierge service to get migrants to their destinations across the United States."
The Board of Supervisors allocated $3 million in October 2023 and an additional $3 million in December 2023 to operate a temporary Migrant Transitional Center.
Following its closure due to lack of funding, San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Nora Vargas advocated for a federally funded migrant transition center, which was adopted by the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 27.
"I am thrilled to announce that after months of tirelessly advocating for funding, the federal government has allocated $19.6 million to support the thousands of asylum seekers who are coming across our border," Vargas said following the grant announcement. "Our work is not over, and we are now working to adopt a sustainable, federally funded migrant transition center in San Diego County."
The Department of Homeland Security has removed or returned more than 660,000 individuals -- the vast majority of whom crossed the Southwest Border -- including more than 102,000 individual family members, since May 12, 2023.
"DHS efforts to manage and secure our borders in a safe, orderly, and humane way include support for communities, as well as strengthened consequences for those without a lawful basis to remain and an expansion of lawful pathways that have helped reduce the number of encounters from specific populations," a statement from the agency read.
Copyright 2024, City News Service, Inc.
