State funds to assist asylum seekers

SACRAMENTO — California will spend up to $28 million to provide quarantine hotel rooms, medical care and other services to asylum seekers whom the Biden administration has begun processing for entry into the United States again.

In a memo Thursday, the state Department of Finance said it would make the money available to pay for hotels where migrants entering through the San Ysidro port of entry near San Diego will quarantine for seven to 10 days upon arrival to protect against spread of the coronavirus.

The state will also use the funding to contract with UC San Diego for medical screenings, including coronavirus testing, and medical care, and with the nonprofit Jewish Family Service for food, transportation, case management and other services.

Tens of thousands of largely Central American asylum seekers are stuck in Mexico under a 2019 policy adopted by former President Donald Trump that forced them wait outside the U.S. for the duration of their immigration proceedings.

President Biden reversed that order this month, allowing migrants with credible asylum claims to enter the country while their cases are considered, as has historically been the approach.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has started to let 25 people through the San Ysidro port of entry each day, according to the state Department of Finance memo, with a goal of eventually processing up to 300 people per day.

H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the Department of Finance, said California was stepping in to help the Biden administration implement its “far more humane” immigration policy

“The state government and the federal government are rowing in the same direction.” H.D. Palmer, California Department of Finance

because of the additional challenges of the pandemic. Asylum seekers must first test negative for the coronavirus, for example, before being allowed to enter the country.

Palmer said California is paying for the costs to move the program along more quickly and the state hopes to ultimately be reimbursed for the services it provides. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions.

“We now have a situation that has not existed in recent years where the state government and the federal government are rowing in the same direction,” Palmer said. “We are doing what we can on the front end to make sure this is done seamlessly.”