Migrants To Be Released In RivCo As Border Patrol Handles Surge

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — As the U.S Customs and Border Protection faces a surge in migrant arrests at the Southwest border, Riverside County will soon begin feeling the impact. To relieve the stress on the Yuma station, local Border Patrol officials tell Patch they expect to receive between 100 and 125 people per day, some of whom will be released in the Coachella Valley via local shelters or at transportation hubs.

Wednesday was the first day of the new agreement between the El Centro and Yuma stations, according to Assistant Chief Patrol Agent David Kim. Under the arrangement, the El Centro sector will help process the extra people, in addition to their own daily arrests.

Due to the high number of people being processed, some migrants may need to be released into the community, Kim said.

The station has been in contact with non-government community organizations in the Coachella Valley to start finding some space for these people, Kim said. When space runs out there, or if there are people who have the financial means to meet up with family elsewhere in the United States, there is the "possibility" they'll be brought to transportation hubs in the Valley.

"By and large, if not all, they would be family units," Kim told Patch via telephone on Wednesday, stressing that they would not release anyone with a "serious criminal history" or who "would be a potential danger" to the community.

Congressman Raul Ruiz, a Democrat from California's 36th District, tells Patch the stress on the Border Patrol is something he's trying to help relieve.

"CBP’s lack of capacity to handle asylum claims of families fleeing violence is exactly why earlier this year, I helped secure $200 million in funding for our Border Patrol, and why I’m spearheading legislation to help CBP address the humanitarian needs of families in their custody," Ruiz said in an emailed statement to Patch. "I will continue to help build capacity for CBP and local communities to rapidly reach a humane solution."

In April alone, Border Patrol officials arrested some 99,000 people at the Southwest border, according to a report by Politico that quoted Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost from a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing.

"We cannot address this crisis by simply shifting more resources or building more facilities,” Provost told lawmakers on Wednesday. "It’s like holding a bucket under a faucet. It doesn’t matter how many buckets you give me if we can’t turn off the flow."

The latest statistics from Customs and Border Patrol show that in April, 58,474 migrant family units were apprehended in the Southwest region. That's up from 23,116 in October.