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California Braces for Unprecedented Wave of Migrants at the Border

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom warned this week a long-expected flood of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border into the United States could “break” the state.

He visited the U.S.-Mexico border on Dec. 12, nine days before the anticipated end of Title 42, which is set to expire on Dec. 21. The policy, created as part of the Public Health Service Act in 1944, was triggered by former President Donald Trump to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Newsom, a Democrat, blamed Republicans for the border crisis and defended President Joe Biden and his administration’s plans to lift the Title 42 policy, which allowed border patrol to quickly deport illegal immigrants.

However, he said both parties need to take action to address the border crisis, because the system is already overwhelmed.

Epoch Times Photo
Central and South American immigrants are moved onto charter buses from a Customs and Border Protection facility and then transferred to a migrant shelter in Indio, Calif., on Oct. 18, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

“The fact is, what we’ve got right now is not working, and it’s about to break in a post-42 world unless we take some responsibility and ownership,” he said in an interview with ABC News.

The governor said in a statement the Biden administration has a comprehensive immigration plan to secure the border, support a path to citizenship for those who came to the United States as children, and help the businesses that need more workers.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated on Dec. 13 it is working to close gaps along the southwest border wall, but that the expiration of Title 42 could lead to approximately 9,000 to 14,000 illegal immigrants crossing the border daily. Evidence of this influx of migrants is already happening in border hotspots such as El Paso, Texas, according to DHS.

Meanwhile, Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the Trump administration and a longtime U.S. Border Patrol agent, told the Epoch Times on Dec. 14 that Newsom and California’s policies on illegal immigration are not helping the situation.

Epoch Times Photo
California Gov. Gavin Newsom listens to a question during a press conference in Los Angeles on Nov. 10, 2021. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

“Newsom is part of the problem,” Homan told The Epoch Times in a text message. “The policies he created in California such as being a sanctuary state, a state that issues state ID, a new policy that provides free medical care to illegal aliens, in-state tuition, and many more, act as an enticement to illegal immigration.”

In 2019, during the Trump administration, Newsom traveled to El Salvador in Central America to “examine the root causes of migration and discuss California’s efforts to provide relief and humanitarian aid to asylum seekers fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries,” according to Newsom’s office.

Homan claimed Newsom’s trip encouraged migrants to come to the United States.

“When you offer what he has offered, such as a protection from ICE, even if you commit a serious crime, the most vulnerable people in the world will risk the journey, with the help of vicious cartels that sexually assault many of the females,” he said.

A record number of immigrants died or disappeared along the border in 2021, making the land crossing the deadliest in the world, according to a United Nations agency, the International Organization for Migration. The numbers for 2022 also appear set to break records, according to media reports.

An unidentified US Border Patrol agent (L) helps an immigrant, including setting up intravenous fluid replacement for dehydration, near Sells, Ariz., on June 25, 2014. The number of migrants who died or needed rescue while crossing the desert from Mexico into Arizona has dropped significantly this year. (AP Photo/Astrid Galvan)
An unidentified US Border Patrol agent (L) helps an immigrant, including setting up intravenous fluid replacement for dehydration, near Sells, Ariz., on June 25, 2014. (Astrid Galvan/AP Photo)

The National Border Patrol Council, the labor union representing border patrol agents, challenged Biden’s remarks in the 2022 State of the Union Address in which he said his administration was working to secure the southern border.

“Folks, if we are to advance liberty and justice, we need to secure our border and fix the immigration system,” Biden said.

The union responded that Biden’s actions since he was sworn into office have directly led to the record-high number of apprehensions at the southern border.

“It has been clear to Border Patrol agents that this Administration is not interested in securing the border,” the union said. “One can only assume the President’s plan was to completely overwhelm the system and break it, but one must wonder if he actually intends to fix it.”

On Dec. 12, Newsom joined Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Avila-Olmeda in the border town of Mexicali, Mexico, to visit the Peregrino Migrant Shelter with members of the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration. The shelter provides aid and shelter to migrants and asylum seekers who seek to enter the United States.

Epoch Times Photo
Immigrants held by border patrol agents are transferred to a hotel in Indio, Calif., on Oct. 18, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

“California has invested roughly $1 billion over the past three years to support the health and safety of migrants as well as the surrounding border communities, but we cannot continue to do this work alone,” Newsom said. “It is long past time for Republicans in Congress to engage on real solutions to meet the public safety, public health and humanitarian issues at our border and in our immigration system.”

Newsom also visited a resource center run by the State of California which provides arriving migrants with screening, testing, and vaccination services to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

In addition, these centers offer short-term shelter, medical screenings, and onward travel coordination so migrants may safely pursue their immigration proceedings, according to Newsom’s press release.

Newsom also met with migrants from Haiti, Guatemala, and Mexico but snubbed the border patrol.

According to the Public Policy Institute of California, about 22 percent of the state’s 11 million immigrants are in the United States illegally.

Newsom signed legislation in September allowing illegal immigrants to obtain a state ID. In his 2022–23 California budget plan released in January, Newsom announced universal health care benefits for all low-income residents, including illegal immigrants.

Brad Jones

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Brad Jones is an award-winning journalist based in Southern California.



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