CA Officials Speak Out as State Feels Strain of Border Crisis

As we’ve extensively documented on this blog, the United States is in the midst of a border catastrophe, especially after November broke a new record with 233,000 border encounters.

Immigration enforcement officers are hampered both by the Biden administration’s border policy and the lack of staff/resources to deal with the sheer volume of illegal immigrants they encounter.

California officials are feeling the pressure and some of them are speaking out. San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond was quoted in a report published on Fox News, and discussed the difficult situation local municipalities find themselves in due to the influx at the border.

Desmond said the border crisis has put a strain on local officials.

“If the Federal Government wants to process asylum seekers, they must provide adequate resources to manage people entering our region,” Desmond said. “We already have a severe homeless problem in San Diego County and dropping nearly 200 people onto our streets will only perpetuate the issue.”

According to the Fox report, 850 migrants were dropped off in San Diego County over a four day period, and the county only has 600 beds for the homeless population. Desmond also mentioned he was thankful for Title 42, or else things could be much worse.

“In light of what we are seeing in San Diego County over the past week, I’m glad to see the Supreme Court has kept Title 42 for now,” Desmond said. “Our immigration system is broken and it’s on full display here but keeping Title 42 will help a bit.”

The SCOTUS recently ruled to keep Title 42 in place for the time being, although is still hang in the balance. This is a positive development for Californians, as a recent CalMatters report lays bare the difficult position the state would be in if this measure goes away.

Their report details a variety of state officials concerned about the influx of illegal aliens into the state. One official, San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson, has gone public with his concerns over funding and resources. He’s calling out the state and federal government to step up.

“We’re not even talking about whether these are good policies or not,” said Anderson as quoted by CalMatters. “But whatever the policy is, we become the targets of it. We’re willing to step up, but they have to step up, too, by giving us the resources we need to deal with it.”

Anderson also mentioned that this influx disproportionately affects border towns and their residents.

“It is irresponsible to ask the City of El Cajon to shoulder the burden and costs necessary to address the needs of these individuals without assistance from the State and federal government,” wrote Anderson in the letter. 

Californians in border towns are feeling the pain and see little in the way of help from their state and federal governments. Without Title 42 remaining in place, these California border towns would be in an even more difficult position due to the increased levels of illegal immigration.

Californians, like many other Americans, feel the effects of illegal immigration in a direct way. As the situation at the border escalates, we need these local officials to speak out every chance they get.  This is an important development, as state officials play an important role in highlighting how immigration policy affects local constituencies. They need to continually highlight this issue so it’s consistently mentioned in the media, and put pressure on other public officials to take action.

Californians have had enough. We need to stop illegal immigration, and put our own citizens first.