The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is mulling over an additional $3 million for services to help immigrants as asylum-seekers have established makeshift camps near the southern border.
In October, the county Board of Supervisors authorized $3 million in emergency funding so local nonprofit groups can provide shelter to immigrants. The funds would support immigrant services for up to three months while San Diego leaders seek long-term federal funding. On Tuesday, the board will vote to double the amount of American Rescue Plan funding.
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Last week, a San Diego County-funded migrant center received 1,500 immigrants, the highest number in one day so far, according to CBS News 8. Since Sept. 13, over 42,000 immigrants have been dropped off in San Diego and the suburbs of El Cajon and Oceanside by U.S. authorities, according to officials.
Supervisor Jim Desmond, who opposed the first round of funding, is against the proposed additional funding, saying taxpayers should not be paying for a problem that should be tackled by the federal government.
“I'm against this for several reasons, primarily because immigration is a Federal issue, and San Diegans should not be footing the bill. We have seen nearly 50,000 migrants enter San Diego County since September 13 and there are no signs of this slowing down,” Desmond posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Our immigration system is broken and San Diegans shouldn't have to sacrifice local services because of this breakdown,” Desmond added.
However, Vice Chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer told CBS News 8 that the funds used wouldn't be taxpayer funds, as they come from the federal dollars received from the American Rescue Plan funding, signed by President Joe Biden in 2021.
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“We really have an extraordinary failure of leadership in Washington, particularly in the House," Lawson-Remer said.
"It would be an abdication of our leadership as local elected officials to be waiting around for Washington to act," she said. "I am not waiting for Washington. I say we do the right thing here because it is the right thing to do."