By Emily Alvarenga – The San Diego Union-Tribune
Anticipating higher numbers of newly-arrived migrants than usual through the holidays, county supervisors agreed Tuesday to give $2 million in state migrant-support grants to help local aid groups fund higher travel costs.
Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego will get up to $1 million to help asylum-seekers reach their final destinations. The other half goes to Catalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties, which in turn will make grants to other local aid groups for the same purpose.
The board of supervisors voted 3-1 to authorize the grants, using money it got last month from the state Department of Social Services’ Office of Equity. Jim Desmond cast the no vote, and Joel Anderson was absent.
The number of migrants arriving in San Diego County peaked earlier this year and has averaged about 550 a day, according to the board letter; about 99 percent are here briefly before traveling to other parts of the country. The number of encounters has fallen, but the region remains the busiest along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Since the county closed its temporary migrant welcome center earlier this year — it operated on $6 million in county funds and served more than 81,000 people in its four months — Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Service of San Diego have tried filling the gap in services for migrants continuing to other parts of the country.
Their respite shelters mainly provide the most vulnerable asylum-seekers — families, pregnant women, LGBTQ+ people and those with medical conditions — temporary places to stay and help reaching their final destinations.
In recent months, Catholic Charities has been taking in every asylum-seeker processed and released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, plus people from other shelters already at capacity, its CEO Vino Pajanor told The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Now, he says the shelters are working with CBP to prepare for an increase in arriving migrants, which typically happens each year during the busy holiday season due to increased travel.
Plus, it can take migrants arriving in San Diego County longer to head their final destinations than it otherwise might, due to the hectic holiday travel season.
“Usually, as it gets closer to Christmas, that’s when the backlog starts happening — because people are not able to leave San Diego because of increased costs or weather (delays),” Pajanor explained Wednesday.
That’s why Kimberly Giardina, deputy chief administrative officer of the county’s health agency, urged supervisors to act quickly, calling it “critical for the county to expeditiously get available and timely resources out to community providers” in a letter last week.
Catalyst has been helping connect and fund migrant service groups since 2018, its president and CEO Megan Thomas said Wednesday.
She said the county grant “will allow us to fund the critical work of nonprofit partners who ensure a humane and dignified entry into our country.”
County staff had originally planned to give the entire $2 million to Catholic Charities, which would then collaborate with other local migrant service groups. But other community organizations renewed months-long pleas for a seat at the table, too.
In a letter sent to supervisors Monday, nearly two dozen migrant advocacy groups recommended the county create a task force “led by a regional facilitator from philanthropy and who is not a service provider.”
“This approach would ensure the necessary flexibility and impartiality to effectively convene and coordinate stakeholders, fostering a collaborative and equitable regional response,” the letter went on to explain.
As the county works to establish a permanent migrant transition center, staff have been soliciting feedback from many of the same groups to determine the scope of services needed.
In May, they met with representatives from 23 such groups who advised them to rely on existing nonprofits with expertise in serving asylum-seekers to provide services “prioritizing onward travel,” Barbara Jiménez, HHSA’s community operations officer, said Tuesday.
But efforts to establish the center have since stalled after negotiations with two potential operators failed.
And with President-elect Donald Trump vowing to crack down on immigration once he re-takes office, county staff are worried their costs might not be reimbursed if his administration redirects or repurposes federal funding.
The county had secured $19.6 million through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Shelter and Services Program — but the money isn’t provided up front but rather reimbursed later. Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Service also secured nearly $63.3 million in SSP funding this fiscal year split between them.
Last week, the county hosted a community-engagement session to give updates on the project and gather feedback from recipients of such funding. People from dozens of groups attended.
Many of those groups have begun making their own contingency plans.
Although the board’s Tuesday action was unrelated to the use of federal SSP funds, both Chair Nora Vargas and Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer expressed dismay that talks with potential migrant-center providers had failed.
Vargas went on to push for the county to continue to move forward with the project. “It’s extremely important that we don’t speculate about the impacts (of) what the federal government does or doesn’t do,” she said.
Staff expects to return to the board early next year to seek further direction on how the county can spend their SSP funds — if they are still available.
Staff writer Alexandra Mendoza contributed to this report.