Border Patrol drops hundreds of migrants at bus stop in San Diego after $6M in funds from the county runs dry

SAN DIEGO, CA - Buses carrying hundreds of migrants from several countries were released at a bus stop after the city of San Diego reportedly ran out of aid money.

According to NBC News, the migrants were dropped off at a random bus stop instead of a reception center that had previously served as a staging area. The city of San Diego, one of the largest cities on the southern border, ran out of local funding sooner than expected due to the unprecedented influx of migrants. 

With the local funding no longer a viable option, migrant aid groups and advocates scrambled to help out with makeshift arrangements. The buses, operated by Border Patrol agents, were reportedly carrying migrants from Senegal, China, Ecuador, Rwanda and several other countries. 

Since October 2023, San Diego County has given $6 million in aid to South Bay Community Services (SBCS) to help support the nonprofit in providing phone-charging stations, food, travel advice and other services at a former elementary school. The initial plan was to keep the staging area open through March 2024, but as of Thursday, February 22, the nonprofit ran out of funds.

After leaving a processing facility on Friday, February 23, hundreds of migrants were dropped at a sidewalk bus stop amid office parks in San Diego with notices to appear in immigration court. 

Nora Vargas, chair of the San Diego County board of supervisors and supporter of the migrant welcome center, said that the county had to pause its spending as it continues to assess damages from the catastrophic January flooding as well as addressing its homelessness and lack of health care among residents. She said in a statement, "We have to be financially prudent about it."

SBCS has faced criticism from other migrant advocacy groups and reportedly told the county that its services cost $1.4 million a month. In response, the county asked that the nonprofit aim for $1 million instead. SBCS spokesperson Margie Newman Tsay said, "It's not that funds ran out early, it's that the funds were stretched as far as they could go."

SBCS said that it has served 81,000 migrants in San Diego since October 11, 2023. According to NBC News, a report to the county showed that the nonprofit spent $750,000 on personnel through December 24, 2023 and $152,000 on operating expenses, including shelter, transportation and security. 

Criticizing how SBCS spent their aid, Erika Pinheiro, executive director of Al Otro Lado, a migrant aid group that assists with street releases said, "I could have done a lot more with $6 million." 

On Friday, February 23, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said that the street releases are "the latest example of the pressing need for Congress to provide additional resources and take legislative action" so that the outdated immigration laws can be fixed.

San Diego has emerged as one of the busiest spots for illegal border crossings, with an average of 800 arrests per day in the month of January. According to reports, many are from West Africa and Asia, with a daily average of more than 100 from China and those numbers are just for the month of January.