SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Nearly two months after a locally-funded migrant welcome center closed, $19.6 million in federal funding to support asylum seekers is headed to San Diego County.
On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced plans to distribute $300 million in grants to communities across the country through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Shelter and Services Program, which funds support services for migrants.
San Diego County is one of 55 recipients slated to receive the grant money, according to DHS. The Catholic Diocese of San Diego also received $19.6 million to help assist with migrant arrivals through the program.
In a statement, Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Nora Vargas confirmed the county’s funds from the program will go towards creating a “sustainable, federally funded migrant transition center” to aid asylum-seekers on the way to their final destination and prevent street releases.
“I am thrilled to announce that after months of tirelessly advocating for funding, the federal government has allocated $19.6 million to support the thousands of asylum-seekers who are coming across our border,” Vargas said.
“As we learn more details on the funding in the coming days and weeks,” she continued, “I look forward to working with our partners to maximize these critical federal dollars for our region.”
The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to pursue reviving the migrant transitional center using federal dollars in the wake of the site’s premature closure after four months in operation due to the depletion of funds. Supervisor Jim Desmond was the lone dissent in the vote.
Between October 2023 and when it closed February 2024, $6 million in county funds were allocated to run the welcome center.
While it was open, migrants were brought to the center by U.S. Customs and Border Protection after processing, where they were then connected with resources such as food, shelter or travel support.
Since then, however, Border Patrol has resumed its so-called “street releases,” dropping off hundreds of migrants at various transit centers without direction or support to help get them to their final destination.
These street releases have caused confusion for migrants and inundated aid groups who have been trying to step in to fill the gap the closure of the transitional center left.
“States, including California, continue to see significant numbers of migrant encounters at our southern border. The situation in California became even more pressing this week,” California Sen. Laphonza Butler wrote in a February letter pushing for federal migrant services funding.
“Without the intervention this transitional facility was able to provide, Border Patrol will now be forced to release an estimated 800-1000 migrants a day without orientation or basic humanitarian service at regional transit stations,” she continued.
A delegation of San Diego’s congressional leaders also sent a similar letter to the Department of Homeland Security.
“The San Diego area has a long tradition of welcoming individuals seeking asylum and refuge with open arms,” said Rep. Juan Vargas in a statement on Friday. “This funding will help make sure they have the resources they need to continue their important work to provide migrant communities with food, shelter, and other critical services.”
When the money will be able to be used for the migrant center is unclear at this time. According to DHS, the $300 million will be dispersed in two allocations — $275 million distributed first followed up by $25 million later this year to “accommodate evolving operational requirements.”
