California Migrant Benefits Are Changing 'Soon,' Official Warns
Asylum seekers wait in line to be processed by the Border Patrol at a makeshift camp near the US-Mexico border east of Jacumba, San Diego County, California, January 2, 2024. Local officials are warning of a continued surge that is not letting up, cautioning that funding for migrants will run out “soon.”
Officials in San Diego, California, are warning of a continuous migrant surge that is draining city coffers and could dry up “soon” without any additional financial aid.
California’s illegal immigration numbers have risen for three consecutive years, from approximately 260,000 in fiscal year 2021 to 362,000 and 450,000 in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, respectively, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. Numbers this current fiscal year have exceeded 253,200 in a five-month period between October and February, with numbers in February increasing by about 6,000 after an 11,000-migrant decrease from December to January.
The state has experienced an influx in total migrants, in addition to an increase among multiple demographics including Chinese, Haitian and Indian migrants. Migrant injuries at the southern border wall have also hit new highs, according to local hospitals who treat such individuals.
In late March, CBP confirmed the arrest of a suspected Chinese national who drove onto the 29 Palms Marine Base in California’s El Centro Sector without proper authority.
“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,” El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells told Fox News on Sunday.
“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 about the homeless shelters. “So there’s very little in the way of safety net in California.”
El Cajon is part of San Diego County and located approximately 17 miles east of downtown San Diego.
Newsweek reached out via email to Wells for comment, as well as CBP for the most recent data from the migrant sector.
San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond told Border Report on Friday that more than 24,000 migrants have been released onto the streets of San Diego since late February and more than 120,000 in the last six months. CBP reportedly said they would not confirm such numbers.
“This is by far the most chaotic we have ever seen the border,” Desmond told Newsweek via email on Monday. “We used to have a few street releases a year, but now we get 500 to 800 a day, and it’s been happening since September.
“One of the biggest messages I want to get out is that this affects our entire country. About 90 percent of those dropped in San Diego leave within 24 hours and go somewhere else in the country. So, we have thousands of people coming into our country, unvetted, with no real way to keep track of them. This should concern everyone.”
San Diego County spent $6 million on a local migrant resource center, which Desmond said he was “never in favor of spending local tax dollars on a federal problem.” It did pass, however, and the money expired in four months.
He said that his colleagues now agree with him that no more local dollars should be given.
“This crisis is a result of the federal government’s failings,” Desmond added. “By allowing migrants to bypass legal channels and jump ahead of the line, we incentivize illegal immigration and endanger everyone. Why would anyone respect our legal processes when we disregard them ourselves? We need the federal government to address the root causes of illegal immigration, enforce the rules we have in place, improve our asylum processes, and provide pathways for legal immigration.”
Meanwhile, a video posted by Wells on X, formerly Twitter, dubs illegal immigration as a “crisis in California.” Wells, who is running for U.S. Congress, told Fox News that the border has “always been a problem” with drugs, sex trafficking and human smuggling.
But he laid blame on the federal government for a lack of effort in preventing “bad actors” like cartels and gang members from entering the U.S., saying it’s “never been to this degree” and is “exponentially” worse than he’s ever witnessed.
“Now the gates are wide open,” he added.
The San Diego sector experienced an 85 percent increase in encounters in February compared to the same month in 2023, according to Fox News, citing CBP data. Agents there made more than 230,000 encounters during fiscal year 2023, a record 2024 is on track to shatter.
Newsweek has reached out to the CBP to confirm the data via email.
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