After receiving$ 19.6 million in federal funding, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 on Tuesday to proceed with a immigrant change core strategy.
Thousands of asylum applicants continue to arrive at the U.S. borders before being processed by the U.S. Border Patrol and released into the area after being detained.
Due to lack of money, the state established a momentary immigrant center to provide services to help people get to their destination, which cost the county$ 6 million.
A long-term immigrant change center plan was approved by the board of supervisors on Tuesday.
San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Nora Vargas expressed her pride in her powerful advocacy efforts, which resulted in the federal government awarding$ 19.6 million to help asylum seekers at our border. ” This money is vital for providing dignified and humanitarian assistance, including vital resources such as food, clothes, and important information to safely link people to their intended destinations”.
Supervisor Jim Desmond voted against the proposal, claiming that it does not get to the root of the issue.
” All this money does is give us a facility where we can basically act as their travel agents and move them throughout the county,” he said. ” I believe this money would be better spent if it went toward Border Patrol agents and allowed them to obtain more Border Batrol agents for vetting,” said one spokesman.
Since the temporary center’s closure, according to county officials, thousands of migrants have been freed on the street.
Local organizations like Jewish Family Service urged the county to work with them and find out about the most pressing needs last week.
According to Kate Clark, senior director of immigration services with Jewish Family Service,” It is critically important for the County of San Diego, in particular, to come alongside organizations that have been closest to this work, both doing sheltering and supporting individuals that have been released from the streets of San Diego over the last year.”
” I’d rather see this money put toward safety and security”, said Desmond. ” And not having nonprofits fighting over dollars that are one-time dollars, that are only going to last for about 12 months, and then what? Then this problem is in San Diego’s lap”.
County officials intend to hold meetings with regional organizations in the near future to discuss how to collaborate on services.
