Buy Photo[/SIZE]Photo: Richard Lui/ The Desert Sun)
A day after angry protesters in Murrieta blocked the federal plan to transfer three bus loads of undocumented immigrants into Riverside County, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will transfer 140 additional immigrants into El Centro.
The immigrants, mostly Central American mothers and children who were apprehended at the Southwest border in Texas, will be processed at the El Centro Border Patrol station on Aten Road in Imperial.[
Migrants will be flown from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas into Yuma, Ariz. and will then be taken by bus to El Centro in the afternoon Wednesday.
Tatiana Sanchez, The Desert Sun T July 2, 2014
Here's the latest:[R]
12:06 p.m.: The mesh barriers makes it difficult to see through the gates, but it is clear that the processing of the transferred immigrants has started
12:03 p.m.: Three bus loads of immigrants have arrived in El Centro.
11:40 a.m.: A spokesperson for the El Centro station has declined to offer details about Wednesday's transfer, saying any information needs to be released by officials in Washington
11:37 a.m.: Unlike Tuesday's scene in Murrieta, there is no crowd of protesters gathered in El Centro. The immigrant families are expected to arrive sometime this afternoon.
11:14 a.m.: Border Patrol has blocked off the gate to the El Centro station's parking lot with a tarp, preventing people from being able to see where the buses are expected to arrive.
The tarp was not there Tuesday.
Border Patrol has blocked the entry area with a tarp, preventing anyone from being able to see into the entry. (Photo: Tatiana Sanchez/ The Desert Sun)
10:15 a.m.: Border Patrol agents briefed Imperial County officials Tuesday afternoon
Although officials have expressed concern that the sudden influx of undocumented immigrants would drain local resources from an already-stretched town, Border Patrol agents at the meeting assured the Imperial Valley Board of Supervisors that the entire process would be taken care of "in-house" by local U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement jurisdictions.
The group will be processed and held at the El Centro Border Patrol Station for up to 72 hours.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will determine on a case-by-case basis whether to release or detain the families at their facility, located about two miles away from Border Patrol's location.
Imperial Valley Supervisor Jack Terrazas expects that many of the immigrants who are released will head east to connect with family
10:10 a.m.: Rep. Juan Vargas, a San Diego Democrat, said that the region is "in the midst of a humanitarian crisis."
"As ICE transfers families to San Diego and Imperial County, ensuring that individuals are treated compassionately remains a top priority," Vargas said in a statement.
"At the same time, the administration must provide local communities the resources and assistance necessary to support the influx of those in need."
Vargas had represented parts of the Coachella Valley when he served in the state Senate.[
9:45 a.m.: Lombardo Amaya, a union representative for the National Border Patrol Council El Centro Sector, said their agents are prepared and are taking a "proactive approach" to the overcrowding crisis
"It's the work that we have to do," he said. "They need help (in Texas) and we are helping them. They have been overwhelmed.
Amaya said that there will be no criminals, felons or unaccompanied children on the bus.
He added that the station is ready but, "we don't have much control over the politics of it."
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