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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.

"Theres 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 its 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."

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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 "always been a problem," but the federal government always made an effort to prevent "bad actors" like cartels and gang members from entering the country.

"Now the gates are wide open," Wells told Fox News. "We're no longer even trying."

The San Diego sector saw an 85% increase in encounters in February compared to the same month last year, according to CBP data. Agents there made more than 230,000 encounters during fiscal year 2023, a record 2024 is on track to shatter.

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While the Biden administration promises "our borders are not open," those on the front lines describe a contradictory scene. Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed with "give ups," people who walk across the border and claim asylum so they can be detained, processed and then released into the United States.

"I dont blame the Border Patrol agents," Desmond said. "Their hands are tied."

Both Wells and Desmond have documented crowds at local transit stations. Desmond said CBP releases between 600 and 900 people on a given day, usually at locations that lack bathrooms and other amenities. Sometimes nonprofits or "entrepreneurial" taxi drivers are there waiting, he said.

Now the gates are wide open. We're no longer even trying.

"Unfortunately, San Diego Airport now has become the de facto migrant shelter, where they sleep there," he added, estimating that around 90% of migrants continue to other cities around the country like Chicago or New York. "Hopefully a lot of them leave. But we have no, really, idea of if they do or not."

Until late February,migrants would likely have been taken to a vacant elementary school-turned processing center in San Diego. But the $6 million in county funding that was supposed to sustain the center from October through March ran out early, after processing 81,000 migrants, according to local news reports.

The Board of Supervisors approved a plan to seek federal dollars and charitable donations to fund a replacement center to stem the tide of street releases. Desmond cast the sole "no" vote, arguing a long-term shelter would just be complicit in the federal governments mess.

San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, left, and El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells are frustrated with the federal government's handling of the border. They said hundreds of migrants are dropped off daily in their region and, while many continue on to other cities or states, those who stay put a strain on local resources. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)

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"What were allowing is a very undignified and inhumane process where people have to come over a 30-foot fence [or] through a river," he said. "We should enforce our laws and have a legal, dignified immigration process."

Americans increasingly rank immigration as the most important problem facing the United States. In California, nearly two-thirds of likely voters surveyed earlier this year by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, said the border is not secure enough.

Californians Fox News spoke with largely said border security was an important voting priority for them and that they support immigration so long as its done legally.

"If you have a fence around your house, if you lock your door at night, then we don't need to explain to you the value of having a border fence. It's not rocket science," Mark Good said.

In California, 65% of likely voters surveyed earlier this year said the border is not secure enough to prevent people from entering the country illegally. (Ramiro Vargas/Fox News Digital)

Goods son-in-law spent five years waiting to immigrate to the U.S. from Bangladesh "the right way," he said.

"Then you see people coming over the border and getting given things," his wife Pat said. "Its hard. I feel bad for them, but its hard."

Wells, who is running for Congress, and other local leaders initially worried there would be a surge of migrants on the street after the welcome center closed. That hasnt happened yet, he said, speculating that private organizations and nonprofits have been able to get migrants on planes and buses fast enough to keep up with the influx.

Border agents in the San Diego sector have recorded more than 150,000 migrant encounters since October 2023. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)

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"Pretty soon the system is going to be overwhelmed to the point where there's not going to be enough money to send people everywhere they want to go," Wells worried.

With homeless shelters already full, he said migrants could end up on the streets.

"Everything is already full because of the migrants and the homeless people that have flocked to California in the past couple of years," Wells said. "So there's very little in the way of safety net in California."

Ramiro Vargas contributed to the accompanying video.

Hannah Ray Lambert is an associate producer/writer with Fox News Digital Originals.

Read more:
Crisis in California: Migrants overwhelming state with 'no end in sight,' local officials warn - Fox News

April 2:Trump in Michigan blasts border bloodbath. Here are the facts

Former President Donald Trump is bringing the emotional immigration debate to Michigan, where a murder case involving a previously deported immigrant is igniting calls for better border security.

Trumps planned campaign speech in Grand Rapids on Tuesday is expected to criticize southern border policies under Democratic President Joe Biden.

His visit follows the March 22 murder of Ruby Garcia, 25, a Grand Rapids resident who prosecutors allege was shot by Brandon Ortiz-Vite, her romantic partner who was in the U.S. illegally after being deported.

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In a Monday radio interview with Justin Barclay on 910AM Superstation, Trump said immigration is the No. 1 issue of the 2024 election, where hes expected to face Biden in a 2020 rematch for the presidency.

Trump claimed Biden isnt doing enough to secure the southern border and prevent crimes like Garcias murder, telling the station, we're ending up with a country that's going to be loaded up with criminals at levels that the police won't even be able to handle.

Trumps critics say he and his allies are making a bad situation worse with his rhetoric, pointing to Republicans rejection of a bipartisan border deal in February that aimed to reduce illegal crossings.

Donald Trump is coming to Grand Rapids to do what he does best: divide, distract, and fearmonger, instead of doing something to address the issues that actually matter to Michiganders, said Alyssa Bradley, the Michigan communications director for Bidens campaign.

So amid all the rhetoric, here are the facts about immigration rates, crime, economic impact and politics in Michigan.

The murder of Garcia on March 22 murder brought national political debates over security at the U.S.-Mexico border to west Michigan.

Garcia was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds on the shoulder of U.S. 131. Ortiz-Vite, also 25, faces charges for killing her in what authorities called a "domestic violence homicide" that stemmed from their romantic relationship.

News of Garcias murder gained traction nationally after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement revealed Ortiz-Vite, a longtime Kent County resident, was in the U.S. illegally.

He was deported to Mexico in 2020, but at some point re-entered the country without legal permission. The case quickly became a rallying cry for conservatives.

Rubys family would not be facing this sad reality had the system not failed to ensure an illegal immigrant with an arrest record couldnt enter the country, Sen. Lana Theis, R-Brighton, said in a recent statement.

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker, a Republican, last week noted it is the countys second homicide in 10 months involving an immigrant.

Last month, a jury found Luis Bernal-Sosa, a Mexican national, guilty of the shooting death of the mother of his infant child, Leah Marie Gomez, 22, on May 31, 2023, near downtown Grand Rapids.

Democrats and others say the tragedy of the deaths and domestic violence is being overshadowed by politics.

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, a Grand Rapids Democrat, said Garcias death became even more tragic when it was co-opted by those wishing to score political points by stoking fear, xenophobia and division.

Nationwide, about 10.5 million people live in the United States without legal authorization double the number from 1995, but roughly the same as 2017, when Trump was president, according to the Pew Research Center.

In Michigan, about 91,000 people are in the state without authorization, about 1.2% of the states population, according to the nonpartisan research firm Migration Policy Institute.

The number of immigrants legally allowed to enter Michigan, including those granted green cards and refugee or asylum status, had not risen dramatically under Biden as of 2022, according to the most recent federal data available.

In 2022, Michigan took in 1,143 refugees, 10th per capita among all states. Thats three fewer refugees than came to Michigan in 2019 under Trump.

Those figures were much higher under former President Barack Obama, with more than 3,000 refugees coming into Michigan each year between 2013 and 2016.

No, and most research indicates they are actually less likely to commit crimes, regardless of their legal status, according to a 2019 study by the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University.

A February study by the libertarian Cato Institute also found that people who are in the country illegally have lower conviction rates for homicide than native-born residents.

Few people are murderers, and illegal immigrants are statistically less likely to be murderers, read the study.

Still, some illegal immigrants do commit homicide, and that statistical fact is no comfort to victims and their families. More importantly, nobody should expect the statistics to comfort individuals affected by violent crime.

Republicans and others contend that those who break immigration law could be willing to break other laws as well.

"The need for strong leadership and strong immigration policies has never been more clear," House Republican Floor Leader Bryan Posthumus, R-Cannon Township, said in a statement. I'm glad to see the president return to Michigan for what I'm sure will be a very necessary reminder: laws protect the people. They must be enforced.

State Republicans have called for policies that would delineate between legal and illegal immigration, including banning so-called sanctuary cities that do not fully comply with U.S. immigration policies and enforcement.

Those bills have stalled in the Democratic-majority Michigan Legislature.

The nonprofit Center for Immigration Studies lists the counties of Ingham, Kalamazoo, Wayne and Kent as sanctuary communities, although Kent County officials dispute the designation.

Lansings City Council at one point declared itself a sanctuary city, but reversed that designation in a later vote. East Lansing formally became a sanctuary city in January 2023. Detroit and Ann Arbor have passed resolutions declaring themselves as welcoming cities to immigrants.

Immigration has long been a top campaign issue for Trump, who proposed building a southern border wall as part of his winning 2016 campaign.

Since Biden took office, illegal border crossings have averaged about 2 million per year, the highest level in history, according to the Washington Post.

Efforts to stem the tide have fallen flat in Congress, where a bipartisan deal to curb illegal crossings while providing aid to Ukraine collapsed in the U.S. Senate after Trump and other conservatives criticized the deal.

That plan would have added additional border agents, installed drug-detection machines and created emergency protocols for border backlogs.

Trump took credit for the deal falling apart. Published reports indicate he urged senators to vote against the legislation to deny Biden an election-year victory.

Its unconscionable that he would now come in and say that the problem is not solved when he's the reason why, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said on Friday.

Michigan is one of a handful of battleground states that could decide the White House. Trump hopes immigration will swing voters on the fence to him, said Ken Kollman, a political science professor at the University of Michigan.

Its a pretty classic instance of Trump trying to raise the salience of an issue that he thinks is to his advantage, Kollman said.

The stakes are particularly high in west Michigan, which could be up for grabs. Kent County had been reliably Republican for years, but Biden beat Trump by 21,000 votes there in 2020.

Last week, longtime GOP political strategist John Yob wrote in a memo that Garcias murder will move historically centrist Republicans in west Michigan who were torn in recent presidential elections firmly into President Trumps corner.

The massive problem at the border and corresponding media attention is now on the verge of turning these soccer moms into security moms in west Michigan and changing their perspective in the presidential race, Yob wrote.

One case is a terrible tragedy, two cases is an unacceptable trend that voters will not easily accept.

State officials say foreign-born residents wield significant economic power in Michigan: Refugees and immigrants hold a 90% job retention rate in the state, and immigrants hold an estimated $18 billion in spending power.

Encouraging immigration to Michigan was cited as a potential fix for the states population woes, with a Whitmer-backed council calling for incentives to attract more new arrivals including developing a service to help employers and immigrants navigate the bureaucracy of immigration to come to Michigan.

Brinks, the Senate majority leader, called immigrants of all statuses a net-positive to our economy, public safety, culture and community.

Some advocates have called for making it easier for immigrants to get drivers licenses regardless of their legal status, arguing that it would offer immigrants dignity and help them go about their daily lives without fear.

Since 2008, Michigan law has banned residents who arent in the nation legally from receiving driver licenses. Efforts to change the law have gone nowhere.

Continue reading here:
Trump in Michigan: What data says about illegal immigration, crime and economy - Bridge Michigan

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More than 200 migrants have been arrested on misdemeanor rioting charges in connection with a late March border breach in El Paso that the local district attorney said injured Texas National Guard members. The local public defender vowed to contest what she contends are false charges.

The incident occurred March 21 at a border gate at the Rio Grande, where El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks said nine migrants cut through concertina wire and assaulted National Guard members at the front of a group of roughly 1,000 asylum-seekers.

An estimated 425 migrants broke away from the larger group and through the wire, rushing over the Guard members at the gate before reaching another fence, according to Hicks and a video published by the New York Post.

Department of Public Safety troopers wanted to charge more than 300 people, but ultimately arrested approximately 221 of those individuals, Hicks said, including seven of the nine people who have been indicted on felony charges of rioting and assaulting a public servant.

DPS is looking for the other two people accused of leading the charge, who were released by Border Patrol agents, Hicks said.

The rest of the migrants face misdemeanor rioting charges. Its not clear how many remained at the county jail this week.

On Easter Sunday, a judge released an unspecified number of the migrants on personal bonds after denying prosecutors request to postpone bond review hearings until after the holiday. Hicks said he was told the released migrants had federal detainers and were presumably deported following their release.

While I am not particularly concerned about immigration cases, I am concerned about violence and destruction of property, Hicks said at a Tuesday press conference, alleging that migrants punched Guard members in the face and stomped on their knees and saying that one tried to take a Guards members gun. If we dont send a message that they cant do that, Im concerned.

At a separate news conference Tuesday, El Paso Chief Public Defender Kelli Childress said the charges against the migrants were unfounded and that her office planned to challenge them. It was not immediately clear how many of the migrants her office is tasked with defending.

In time through the court process, the real incidents that had occurred on that morning as well as going backwards into the evening before will be revealed, Childress said. The charges against these migrants are false and theyre an attempt to inflame the public. We are armed with the truth and we are prepared to defend our clients in criminal court.

Gov. Greg Abbott said state troopers were instructed to arrest every illegal immigrant involved for criminal trespass [and] destruction of property related to the breach.

More than 700 National Guard troops were dispatched to El Paso after the breach, Abbott said last week.

Prosecutors will review each case to decide whether to prosecute individuals, even if they were released and deported, Hicks said. In such instances, he said a case may result in an arrest warrant for a person that authorities cant locate.

Childress said she did not know if any of her clients had already been deported because Immigration and Customs Enforcement had not given her that information.

If we are not able to locate anyone, we might proceed a different route with a motion for dismissal, Childress said.

We cant wait to welcome you to downtown Austin Sept. 5-7 for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival! Join us at Texas breakout politics and policy event as we dig into the 2024 elections, state and national politics, the state of democracy, and so much more. When tickets go on sale this spring, Tribune members will save big. Donate to join or renew today.

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Migrants face rioting charges after El Paso border charge - The Texas Tribune

The sister of the young Michigan woman whose killing has become the latest flashpoint for Republicans on illegal immigration is pushing back on former President Donald J. Trump, criticizing him for using her sisters death to score political points and contradicting his claims that he contacted the family.

At an event in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Tuesday, Mr. Trump described Ruby Garcia, 25, and her killing at length. The man charged with her death was in the United States unlawfully, according to immigration officials, something that Mr. Trump seized on in his remarks to describe Ms. Garcia as a beautiful young woman who was savagely murdered by an illegal alien criminal. He also told the crowd that he had spoken to her family.

But that wasnt true, the sister, Mavi Garcia, said, adding that the family was upset by what they heard while watching the remarks in real time.

He did not speak with any of us, so it was kind of shocking seeing that he had said that he had spoke with us, and misinforming people on live TV, Mavi Garcia, who has acted as a spokeswoman for her family, said in an interview with WOOD-TV8, the NBC affiliate for West Michigan.

She faulted Mr. Trump for framing her sisters death as a border issue.

Its always been about illegal immigrants, she told the news station. Nobody really speaks about when Americans do heinous crimes, and its kind of shocking why he would just bring up illegals. What about Americans who do heinous crimes like this?

Mr. Trump, at the rally in Grand Rapids, brought up Ruby Garcia and other victims of violent crimes as he railed against what he called a border blood bath. He has focused heavily on immigration and the border to try to win over voters by claiming that the influx of migrants at the southern border is contributing to an increase in crime in the United States, a connection that available data does not support.

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Contradicting Trump, Ruby Garcia's Sister Says He Never Contacted Family - The New York Times

Denverites are becoming second-class citizens in their own city. To varying degrees, that could be said of Coloradans in other communities, as well.

They have been elbowed aside by a new wave of immigrants many from Venezuela who have entered the U.S. illegally over the past year and have been deluging Denver and the rest of the state. The toll on taxpayers is growing daily.

Since December 2022, about 40,000 immigrants have arrived in Denver. Welcoming them has cost the city over $60 million and counting. The state and federal government have reimbursed Denver about $14 million, but the rest of the cost is coming out of the pockets of Denver taxpayers. Thats not even counting the tab handed to taxpayers in other Colorado cities.

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That bill for covering food, shelter and other services to the droves of immigrants hasnt been paid out of some rainy-day fund in City Halls coffers. It has come directly out of the citys operating budget, resulting in slashed public services to locals parks & rec centers that reduced their hours; DMV branches that went to weekly closures basic functions that city taxpayers depend on.

And thats not to mention the collateral damage caused by the immigration surge from proliferating tent camps to rising crime.

Of course, its part of the price of living in a sanctuary for illegal immigration.

State lawmakers in 2019 enacted a law prohibiting local governments from cooperating with the federal government in immigration enforcement and prohibiting the sharing of judicial information with federal officials.

Last year, the Legislature passed a law barring local government involvement in immigration detention. Denver, meanwhile, is widely known for offering shelter, food and transportation of illegal immigrants to their final destination.

Now at last there are signs our sanctuary status is prompting second thoughts. As reported by our affiliate the Washington Examiner, Denver officials are starting to tell the immigrants to move on, given the citys immigration-induced, multimillion-dollar deficit.

A video obtained by Gazette news partner 9News shot inside an immigrant shelter showed Denver Mayor Mike Johnstons political director, Andres Carrera, telling a group of recently arrived immigrants in Spanish that there are better opportunities outside Colorado.

The opportunities are over, Carrera tells them. New York gives you more. Chicago gives you more. So I suggest you go there where there is longer-term shelter. There are also more job opportunities there.

If you stay here, you are going to suffer even more, Carrera says, and I dont want to see this.

Sure, it sounds harsh. It also sounds honest for a change. Its another hopeful sign officials are losing their enthusiasm for sanctuary status. It follows last months closure of some shelters to address the budget deficit.

All of which offers an opening for Johnston to stand up as a statesman and acknowledge the fundamental flaws in serving as sanctuary to the world. It's a chance to pivot publicly on the issue and admit what Carrera and probably other officials have implied privately that Denvers hard-pressed residents simply cant bear the burden any longer.

That wont sit well with elements of a political establishment that likes to think taxpayers have bottomless pockets and endless patience for the ordeal. But standing up to such pushback is what statesmanship is all about.

Johnston even can point out he inherited sanctuary status and tried to make it work and that its time to shift tack.

After all, he wasnt elected to serve the political establishment or the worlds immigrants. He was elected to serve Denverites who deserve to be first-class citizens once more.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board

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Colorado's tipping point on illegal immigration | Denver Gazette - coloradopolitics.com