SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. – Surging border crossings are putting a strain on communities in Southern California, where hordes of migrants are often spotted at transit hubs after immigration officials resumed street releases, local politicians say.
“There’s no end in sight,” San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond told Fox News. “This is a new norm, which I think we’re going to get a rude wake-up call someday.”
Approximately 30 migrants lined up in an empty parking lot near Jacumba Hot Springs, California, on March 27, 2024. Border Patrol agents have encountered record numbers of illegal immigrants in the San Diego area in recent years, straining both federal and local resources. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)
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Migrants’ first days in Southern California often follow a similar schedule.
After going over, around or through gaps in the border fence, they surrender to Border Patrol agents. Maybe it’s immediate, maybe they have to wait on the side of the road for a few hours to be caught, or maybe they make a dangerous trek through mountains that Customs and Border Protection warns range from snow-covered in the winter to perilously hot and dry in the summer.
They get searched, processed at a CBP facility tucked amid truck repair shops and car auction businesses, and released. The majority — but not all — get dropped off at local transit stations, Desmond said, gone from San Diego County before many residents have even registered their arrival.
“A lot of them are going to the East Coast,” Desmond said of the folks he has spoken to at the border. “So a lot of them leave. But there’s a lot we don’t know.”
San Diego sees years of rising border crossings
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Located about 15 minutes from downtown San Diego, El Cajon has become one of a handful of drop-off sites for migrants. Mayor Bill Wells said the border has…
