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‘Non-stop flow’ of migrants into California, with ‘dreams of America’
STORY: A group of migrants approach the steel slats of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.This was the scene just last month.These men and women, some carrying young children, squeezed between the fence and a boulder, and crossed into California.Their next stop will be wherever they encounter U.S. Border Patrol, who will detain them and bring them to a migrant processing center.In recent months, the San Diego-Mexico border has become one of the busiest crossings for migrants seeking safe haven and opportunities in the United States.It’s an arduous trek through difficult desert, and for many of them, it began far away.”I’m from Colombia, from Medellin, and I’m here because I think the dreams of America is real and I’m coming here.””I’ve been in Argentina 10 years and right now, I have a dream. I want to live in America. For my family. For freedom. For a best life.”Since October, there have been more than 1.16 million migrant apprehensions border wide.U.S. Customs and Border Protection data show that in April, close to 30% of all the Border Patrol arrests across the U.S.-Mexico border were here in the San Diego sector. The surge is putting fresh pressure on President Joe Biden as the Democrat seeks re-election in November. And it’s provided likely Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump with plenty of ammunition to criticize Biden’s immigration policy.The Biden administration is hoping the numbers of migrants crossing will drop following the announcement this week of a broad ban that would deny migrants caught crossing illegally the right to claim asylum.Most migrants here in California will walk to open-air sites, and wait for a Border Patrol agent.That’s where 61-year-old volunteer Karen Parker meets them.”When I get here, the first thing I do is assess the group, you know, looking for the wounded, looking for the children. What I do when I get here, I pass out food, water, snacks, crayons, coloring books for the children. I, you know, I assess the medical needs of the camp and at times I reach out to 911 to come pick somebody up. And other than that, basic first aid services, resources.”She lives nearby, and says she decided to help because of what she saw as a dire need.”We drive up and down this road, we see hundreds of traumatized people every day, every day. It’s difficult. How do my neighbors feel about it? We come from different sides of the political fence, if you will, but we all agree on this one thing, and that’s children need water and children need shelter and children need medical services, and children need food.”In the afternoon, a Border Patrol agent takes pictures of their documents and faces and loads them into transports to take them to a processing center.UPSOUND BRAUN:”That’s the border fence, or border wall, that’s on our property, the southern property line. Of the gun range.”Kali Kai Braun is the property manager at a gun range that sits just inside the U.S. border, and told Reuters he’s witnessed the sheer number of folks crossing into California.”Some days it could be 100. And then some days, it could be zero. But in ten months, it’s been a non-stop flow.”And he also sees that the current border fence isn’t keeping determined migrants out.”It serves a visual purpose I guess. But obviously, I don’t know what you would do though, when you get into this situation. You either build the wall all the way up the mountain, all the way to the top and over, through these rocks…”A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers earlier this year reached a deal that would have boosted U.S. border security. But Trump pushed Republicans to vote against the legislative deal.
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