Protesters block bus at Murrieta Border Patrol - Pitctures
Protesters block bus at Murrieta Border Patrol
A crowd of protesters in Murrieta blocked buses carrying migrant families who illegally crossed the border in Texas from entering the Border Patrol station on Tuesday, July 1, 2014. Ricardo Cano/The Desert Sun
VIDEO AT LINK:
Desert Sun staff reports3:29 p.m. PDT July 1, 2014
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/0c51...-protest-2.JPGBuy Photo
(Photo: Richard Lui/ The Desert Sun)
As elected leaders and community service groups across Southern California braced themselves for the impact of having hundreds of immigrant families taken here, protesters in Murrieta blocked part of the first wave of families set to arrive Tuesday.
The first wave — totaling about 300 people — was set to arrive there and in El Centro Tuesday.
Additional flights will arrive every three days as the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol tries to address the overcrowded facilities in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, which has seen an unprecedented spike in illegal crossings since October.
Here's the latest:
3:21 p.m.: Union representative Ron Zermeno tells The Desert Sun that the Murrieta Border Patrol station will not resume normal operations but instead send its entire staff to the San Diego area to help with the processing of the re-routed immigrant families.
"It's just a matter of time," he said.
3:09 p.m.: With the protest too much in Murrieta, Border Patrol union representatives confirm the buses are heading to a San Diego County processing center.
2:55 p.m.: The crowd of protesters in Murrieta blocked buses from entering the Border Patrol station. Officials did not immediately say where they were going to be detoured.
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A crowd of protesters in Murrieta blocked buses carrying migrant families who illegally crossed the border in Texas from entering the Border Patrol station on Tuesday, July 1, 2014. Ricardo Cano/The Desert Sun
2:38 p.m.: Imperial County officials have confirmed that the Border Patrol will not bring migrant families to El Centro until Wednesday.
Border Patrol and ICE have assured the county that the transfer will not become a drain on local resources.
2:25 p.m.: Here are more photos from the scene, courtesy of Richard Lui:
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/92c8...-protest-1.JPGProtesters try to stop buses from arriving at the Murrieta Border Patrol station.(Photo: Richard Lui/ The Desert)
2:20 p.m.: Some of the protesters are sitting in front of the buses as they try to enter the Murrieta center.
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/92c8...ng-the-bus.JPGProtesters are blocking the buses as they arrive in Murrieta.(Photo: Richard Lui/ The Desert Sun)
2:07 p.m.: The buses carrying migrant families from Texas have arrived in Murrieta.
The buses took a detour rather than enter the Border Patrol station's front entrance, where about 100 people are gathered.
A Department of Homeland Security official in California told The Associated Press that a chartered plane landed in San Diego after 12 p.m. with 136 migrants on board. The official was not authorized to be named when speaking on the issue.
Murrieta city officials are planning a 5 p.m. announcement in front of City Hall.
-- Ricardo Cano
1:37 p.m.: After the families are processed inside the Border Patrol station in Murrieta Border, they will be taken by vans to bus stops across the region and dropped off, three different Border Patrol union representatives have told The Desert Sun.
Christopher Harris, vice president of National Border Patrol Council's Local 1613, said it is part of the usual protocol by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Gabe Pacheco, an agent and representative with the Border Patrol union, called the whole process "de facto amnesty."
The agents are expected to take the immigrant families to stations in Menifee, San Bernardino and Perris. No one has mentioned locations inside the Coachella Valley.
The bus taking immigrant families to Murrieta for processing has been delayed, but it is expected within the hour.
If immigrants are taken to bus stops, it would mirror what happened in May when immigrants from the Rio Grande Valley were taken to Tuscon.
The families ended up at Greyhound bus stations in Phoenix and Tuscon, according to reports from the Arizona Republic.
1:30 p.m.: San Diego-based Border Angels, a nonprofit that aims to bring relief to day labored and immigrants, is working with local San Diego officials to establish housing sites for displaced immigrants who have no family.
"I agree with what president Obama said recently about this being a humanitarian crisis, and If we this is a humanitarian crisis, then we need a humanitarian solution," said Enrique Morones, president and founder of Border Angels, said outside of the Menifee station.
Just sending back children and deporting immigrants, "that is not a humanitarian solution," he said.
"If these children were Canadian, we would not be having this interview right now," he added.
12:54 p.m.: Unlike heated exchanges that is occurring in the crowd outside of the Murrieta station, the El Centro Border Patrol Station on West Aten Road remained quiet on Tuesday afternoon.
There were no protesters or organizers in sight.
Miguel Garcia, spokesman for the El Centro Border Patrol Sector, declined to comment on the issue and deferred all questions to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection public affairs office in El Centro.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters, located just two miles away from the Border Patrol station, was also quiet and officials declined to comment.
Immigrant families are expected to be flown from Texas to Yuma, and taken by bus to El Centro. Officials have not said when the bus might arrive.
-- Tatiana Sanchez
12:07 p.m.: Here are some of the images from Murrieta, courtesy of Desert Sun photographer Richard Lui:
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/92c8...ol-station.JPGThe Border Patrol station in Murrieta will take in 140 immigrants Tuesday, mostly women and children.(Photo: Richard Lui/ The Desert Sun)
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/65f3...crowd-shot.JPGProtesters have been gathering all morning in anticipation of the immigrant families arriving in Murrieta.(Photo: Richard Lui/ The Desert Sun)
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/a2b5...n-Murrieta.JPGA crowd has gathered outside of the Border Patrol station in Murrieta Tuesday.(Photo: Richard Lui/ The Desert Sun)
11:26 a.m.: Ron Zermeno -- the union representative for the Border Patrol agents in Murrieta and serves as the station's health director – told The Desert Sun that he has serious concerns about whether the station can handle even the first wave of families.
The station, he said, has no dining or dorm facilities to accommodate anyone detained for a long period of time. Instead, Zermeno said the immigrants – mostly women and children -- will be fed three meals a day in their cells.
"It's chaos. It's going to be a mess," he added.
The Murrieta station normally focuses on prosecuting drug-related crimes, such as smuggling.
To handle the transfer from Texas – and process everyone within 72 hours -- Zermeno said routine operations are essentially being suspended. All available resources, including the patrol dogs, are being reassigned to this effort.
Zermeno declined to detail the staffing levels at the station out of security concerns. But he said he requested more staff, and got only five more supervisors.
"What does that say about the situation?" he said.
-- Ricardo Cano
11:15 a.m.: About 15 protesters are now outside of the Murrieta station.
"We can't start taking care of others if we can't take care of our own," said Nancy Greyson, a 60-year-old from Murrieta.
A crowd had gathered there Monday as well, some staying as late as 1 a.m. Tuesday.
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/7b4e...n-protest.jpegAbout 15 protesters were at the Border Patrol station in Murrieta Tuesday morning, voicing opposition to a plan to bring migrant families from a Texas station to Southern California.(Photo: Ricardo Cano/ The Desert Sun)
11:10 a.m.: The Desert Sun has learned the the flight from Texas to San Diego has been delayed.
Families won't arrive in Murrieta until 12:30 p.m.
10:43 a.m.: About 140 migrant adults and children will arrive in San Diego around 11 a.m. and then taken by bus to the Border Patrol station in Murrieta.
About 10 protesters already are out there, voicing their opposition to the federal government's plan.
10:05 a.m.: Murrieta Mayor Alan Long is encouraging the city's 107,000 residents to call elected leaders and voice opposition to the Border Patrol plan.
"We want to make sure everyone is doing what they say they're going to do," Long said.
Police are ready for any security issues, and are starting a hotline to field questions about the transfers.
Many of the migrants are under the impression that they will receive leniency from U.S. authorities. Once the migrants are processed, Immigration and Customs Enforcement will decide who can be released while awaiting deportation proceedings.
-- Associated Press
9:44 a.m.: Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone on Tuesday said the county offered to provide a mobile health clinic at the Border Control station in Murrieta, but the federal government declined the offer.
"It seems like we may need to be prepared for what I would call a local state of emergency," said Stone, a Temecula Republican now running for a state Senate district that includes the Coachella Valley.
"We stand ready, and we are hoping to continue to work with our congressman (U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert), with our U.S. Senators, to do what the county is supposed to do, and that is to provide social services for people that are in the county of Riverside irrespective of their nationality. ... It's almost like a FEMA event."
-- Barrett Newkirk
9:30 a.m.: Aides for U.S. Reps. Raul Ruiz, a Palm Desert, and for U.S. Rep. Juan Vargas, a San Diego, confirmed the two Democrats are keeping updated on the situation.
Ruiz is scheduled to be in El Centro Tuesday for a meeting related to the Salton Sea restoration, but has not announced any plans to go to the Border Patrol station.
Rep. Ken Calvert, a Corona Republican who is opposing the Border Patrol's plan, had toured the Murrieta station on Monday.
"Ultimately, the root cause of our crisis is President Obama's failure to enforce our immigration laws. Immigrants illegally entering the U.S. in (Texas) are literally walking up to CBP officers looking to be detained, knowing that the current U.S. policy is to simply release them. I am convinced that unless we fundamentally change our approach, the crisis will only grow larger."
-- Erica Felci
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/...ieta/11904351/
Protesters in Murrieta block detainees' buses in tense standoff
LA Times article above has been updated to the following:
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July 1, 2014 7:12 pm
By Matt Hansen and Mark Boster
Los Angeles Times
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A crowd of 200 to 300 people in downtown Murrieta surrounded three buses carrying immigrant detainees Tuesday afternoon, causing the buses to turn around before they reached a Border Patrol station in the Riverside County city.
Waving Americans flags and protest signs, the crowd refused to give way when the buses arrived with some 140 detainees from Texas, which has seen a flood of Central American immigrants cross the border in recent weeks without legal permission.
A small number of Murrieta police officers stood between the protesters and the buses but could not keep the crowd from blocking the buses' path.
The face-off came one day after Mayor Alan Long urged residents to protest the federal government’s decision to move the recent immigrants who had arrived in the country illegally -- and have overwhelmed Texas border facilities -- to the Border Patrol station here.
“Murrieta expects our government to enforce our laws, including the deportation of illegal immigrants caught crossing our borders, not disperse them into our local communities,” Long said Monday at a news conference. The city had defeated two previous attempts to send migrants to the facility, he said.
Unable to drop off their passengers safely in Murrieta, buses instead headed for a Border Patrol facility in Chula Vista in San Diego County, arriving late Tuesday afternoon.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials met with city officials in Murrieta and Temecula before the protests, said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the agency, adding that ICE is aware of concerns in the region.
“We’re sensitive to those issues and we’re seeking to address them,” she said.
An initial 140 migrants had been expected to arrive in Murrieta on Tuesday afternoon, Long said, followed by arrivals every 72 hours for several weeks. The detainees are primarily children accompanied by mothers or fathers. They were to be processed at the Murrieta facility before being placed under the supervision of ICE agents who would ensure that they were united with family throughout the country, Long said.
This year, Border Patrol agents across the Southwest have detained more than 52,000 unaccompanied minors, with a particular concentration along the Rio Grande border in Texas, according to federal records.
"Murrieta expects our government to enforce our laws, including the deportation of illegal immigrants caught crossing our borders, not disperse them into our local communities." - Alan Long, Murrieta mayor
Because of this influx, officials are sending migrants to Border Patrol facilities in less heavily trafficked areas, such as Southern California, for processing and supervised release by ICE agents.
By sending migrants to the Murrieta facility, the federal government is not properly enforcing immigration laws that require immediate deportation of undocumented immigrants, Long said.
But, according to the mayor, public safety officials were fully prepared for the arrival and have established an information hotline that residents can use for updates on the transfer.
“I can say, without equivocation, Murrieta will remain safe,” Long said.
Murrieta is one of several cities whose facilities will receive migrants as the government seeks to lessen the burden on the Texas border. Migrants will also be sent to a border patrol facility in El Centro, in neighboring Imperial County, as well as a center in New Mexico, which has also caused lawmakers there to protest.
In his comments Monday, Long emphasized the temporary nature of the new arrivals.
“There is not, and never has been, any intention to release these immigrants locally out the front door of the Border Patrol office,” he said.
Protester Roger Cotton, 49, drove up from San Diego to wave a flag outside of the Murrieta Border Patrol Station.
"I wanted to say that I as an American citizen do not approve of this human disaster that the government has created," Cotton said. He said he believes the migrants who were supposed to be dropped off at the station would be a burden on an already strained system.
"Who’s going to pay for them?" he asked. "What kind of criminality will happen?"
Cotton, who works as a 3D animator, said he blames Democrats for not doing more to secure the border.
"The Democrats are making it easy for them to come here so they can produce more Democratic voters," he said.
Cotton arrived shortly after the bus was blocked and turned around. He said he decided to come to Murrieta on his own accord and was surprised to find other protesters there.
He stood with a group of them on the side of the road, chanting "USA" and sparring with a group of counter-protesters who had come to support the immigrants.
Lupillo Rivera, 42, was one of them.
A well-known Mexican banda singer who came to the United States at age 4, Rivera said he was driving by when he happened upon the protest at the Border Patrol station. He said somebody shouted that he was an illegal immigrant and should go home. Rivera, who is a U.S. citizen, went home and returned with several of his friends and bandmates to confront the protesters.
"Our people cook your food," he shouted at them. "We didn't ask for them to come here," one protester shot back.
Rivera, brother of the late Mexican singer Jenni Rivera, said anybody who would turn away a busload of children was "not human."
"It doesn’t matter where a child is from," he said. "He deserves respect and help because he’s a child.
"How can a 5-year-old defend himself?" asked Rivera, who lives in Temecula. "I don’t think we should push a child out of our country."
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http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...701-story.html
Anti-Amnesty Protesters Block Bus Carrying Illegals in California
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1 Jul 2014, 10:21 PM PDT
MURRIETA Calif. (Reuters) -- A group of protesters shouting anti-immigration slogans blocked the arrival of two buses carrying undocumented Central American families to a U.S. Border Patrol station in California on Tuesday after they were flown to San Diego from Texas.
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-C...-in-California
