Border Authorities Dropped Off 42,000 Illegal Immigrants On San Diego Streets Since September

 U.S. border authorities dropped off 42,000 illegal immigrants on San Diego County streets between September and November of 2023, according to a new report from Cal Matters.

The migrants have often been left at bus and trolley stops, three prominent sites for drop-off have been the Iris Transit Center San Diego; in San Ysidro, near the Port of Entry; and in Oceanside. In September, Oceanside Mayor Esther Sanchez said roughly 100 illegal immigrants arrived every day in Oceanside from San Clemente, where they had been processed.

In October, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors spent $3 million for migrant support services. On Tuesday, the board will vote whether to spend another $3 million for a welcome center for the immigrants.

“Illegal crossings topped a daily average of more than 8,000 last month,” AP reported in mid-October.

Title 42 expired in May 2023. It had been implemented in in March 2020, permitting Border Patrol agents to reject illegal immigrants who might bring Covid-19 into the U.S. Two days before the policy expired, the Border Patrol recorded more than 10,000 arrests. Speaking of the Biden administration letting the policy expire, The Wall Street Journal noted, “President Biden’s transition team knew illegal border crossings had started to rise after Mr. Biden’s election, in part fueled by the widespread notion that he would be friendlier to migrants than Mr. Trump.”

 

After Title 42 expired, one homeowner who owns 78 acres of land on the border with Mexico roughly 75 miles east of San Diego spoke to CNN, which reported that he claimed he saw “dozens, if not hundreds, of migrants crossing onto his land each day.” Another homeowner five miles east of that saw immigrants camping out on his 17-acre property, leaving discarded clothes and trash on the land. His wife commented, “The migrants have more rights than we do.”

Commenting on the illegal immigrant influx, CNN added, “The San Diego Border Patrol Sector has reported more than 230,000 encounters during the fiscal year that ended in September – a level of activity the agency has not seen in over two decades.”