HELP CONTINUES FOR MIGRANTS AT BORDER
“... this is just an ongoing, really difficult situation and ... we have to prepare for the next wave.” Arcela Nunez • co-director of Universidad Popular As holding areas have cleared, community organizations turn to other areas of need
Title 42 has ended, but San Diego-area community organizations say their work to help migrants seeking asylum in border towns is ongoing.
Community groups across the county had prepared for an increase in border crossings as Title 42 — a pandemic-era border policy that expelled migrants at the southern border without giving them a chance to ask for asylum — expired Thursday night. But since then, the number of people crossing the border has appeared to decrease. In recent months, the Border Patrol has kept large groups of migrants in open-air holding areas near the border walls throughout the county for days and sometimes even a week at a time. The number of holding areas and the number of people held in them increased last week prior to the end of Title 42. Those migrants experienced lack of food, cold nights without blankets and limited access to water — until members of the San Diego community got involved to provide aid.
“This moment, with the end of Title 42, has really been a moment of celebration,” said Kate Clark, senior director of immigration services for Jewish Family Service of San Diego. “We have seen — especially in our community — the ability for us to move forward together as a ... community united in our values of welcoming the stranger.”
In recent days, the response received by community groups to aid migrants has been overwhelming; volunteers have helped distribute thousands of meals and water to migrants, along with other basic necessities like sleeping bags, blankets and gift cards.
And had it not been for the San Diego community stepping up to help, the situation at the border would have been much more dire, said Arcela Nunez, codirector of Universidad Popular.
“I think the response of the community was what we have always known: that border communities are ... very welcoming of migrants,” said Lilian Serrano, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition.
On to shelters
Over the weekend, Customs
and Border Protection began shuttling the hundreds of migrants who had spent days in holding areas between the border walls to facilities for processing, effectively dismantling — at least for now — the open-air holding areas along the border.
By late Sunday, two areas along the San Diego-Tijuana border, one with women and families and the other with men traveling without family, had been emptied. And by Monday, most of the roughly 1,200 migrants who had crossed the border further east in the desert community of Jacumba Hot Springs had also been taken to Border Patrol stations for processing.
Once they are processed, migrants are either released with dates to appear in immigration court, or they are sent to long-term detention facilities in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Many of those who are released end up at one of two shelters in San Diego County that receive government funds to temporarily house migrants once they’re released from the border. Catholic Charities’ shelter has received over a thousand asylum seekers daily since Thursday.
“In a normal day, we get anywhere between 300 to 700,” CEO Vino Pajanor said. “So we were relieved that we did not see thousands and thousands.”
Those migrants have been quickly coming into the shelter and leaving almost immediately to reunite with their families who are already in the U.S., he said.
Only when the shelter reaches 85 percent of capacity would organizers begin vulnerability screening, which would prioritize families with young children, pregnant women, sick and elderly. “We’re not there today,” Pajanor added. “I hope we don’t get there anytime soon.”
With lower-than-anticipated arrivals at the border, Scripps Health decided to cancel daily coordination calls with Sharp HealthCare and close command centers Monday after call levels began dropping.
Scripps Health generally receives about 10 transfers from the border to its Chula Vista emergency department daily, many of whom become ill or injured during the perilous trek to the border and over its high walls. The medical provider said Monday that over the weekend, that number fell to three to five.
“We will be monitoring and can stand up the command centers and support systems quickly if needed,”
said Chris Van Gorder, Scripps’ CEO, in an email Monday.
Sharp confirmed Monday that it has dropped its command center’s readiness level.
Scripps, Van Gorder said, has continued to receive trauma cases due to falls from the 30-foot border walls. Those included four people with lower-extremity injuries that were admitted for surgery and one with a laceration who was treated and discharged.
Scripps and the University of California San Diego have reported a significant increase in patients with serious injuries from falls off the border wall since the newer, taller barriers were put in place along the San Diego-Tijuana border by the Trump administration.
Redirecting donations
With holding areas close to empty, community organizers anticipate that more asylum seekers will be gathering in border communities still in the area.
Community groups say donations that were being distributed at the border walls will now be funneled south to migrants in Tijuana and other border towns or to any new groups that appear in open-air holding areas.
The most-needed items include emergency food and water, diapers, lightly used clothing and shoes, sleeping bags, blankets, backpacks, phone chargers and gift cards.
“(The U.S.) keeps taking (asylum seekers), but people keep coming, so that’s the problem,” Maria Galletas, founder and director of Madres y Familias Deportadas en Acción, said on a phone call Monday from Tijuana.
Nunez’s team with Universidad Popular was at the holding area for families near the South Bay Water Reclamation Plant when more asylum seekers arrived Sunday. “It was just a harsh realization and reminder for us that this is not the end; this is just an ongoing, really difficult situation and that we have to prepare for the next wave,” she said.
Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee’s US/Mexico Border Program, says his team at Friends of Friendship Park has paused collections as it works to identify where to direct donations.
Meanwhile, nonprofit Interfaith Community Services has turned its attention to building a list of volunteers who will be on call to respond if asylum seekers arrive in North County.
They are in search of volunteers for various roles, from drivers and bilingual communicators to those willing to build backpacks full of supplies, according to Fiona King, director of strategic initiatives.
The San Diego Rapid Response Network Migrant Shelter Services, operated by Jewish Family Service of San Diego, is also seeking volunteers.
The People’s Association of Justice Advocates and partner groups already collected thousands of pounds of donations, but also need volunteers to help sort through items, said Shane Harris, its president.
Harris says the association is working with federal agencies and the Mexican government to convoy across the border and distribute supplies around Tijuana and in Mexican shelters next week.
Donations can be dropped off at the National Black Contractors Association’s office in Encanto, as well as at Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park and Universidad Popular’s office in San Marcos. Donations can also be sent via Amazon registry.
Monetary donations can also be made to the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium’s Immigrant Relief Fund or San Diego Rapid Response Network. Interfaith is also collecting monetary donations that will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $100,000.