DULZURA, Calif. (KGTV) - An East County mother is describing her 8-year-old son's account of a group of men, some of them undocumented migrants, trying to get on his school bus in Dulzura.
Nicole Cardinale spoke with ABC 10News in front of her Dulzura home, a few miles from a Highway 94 intersection, a stop for her 8-year-old son Apollo's yellow school bus.
On Wednesday morning, Apollo was sitting in the front of his bus when it made a stop at Highway 94 and Cochera Via.
Cardinale says a group of men was at the door of the bus.
“He said it was confusing. [They] looked like adults, but they had backpacks on… He said it was scary,” said Cardinale.
According to the Jamul-Dulzura Union School District, 20 men were gathered near the bus.
“They were standing in the doorway. I’m assuming they were communicating with the driver, trying to get a ride,” said Cardinale.
Cardinale says she doesn’t believe the men never made a move to get on the bus.
Parents dropping off the kids stepped in and got their kids on the bus. The school district says law enforcement was contacted.
Border Patrol officials say "several were detained" for being in the country illegally and are being processed for deportation. The bus incident is the second such incident in the area, involving two different routes.
According to an email sent to parents, the previous day, on Tuesday, three men were seen walking along the highway near the same stop, trying to get on the bus.
The incident has left parents with questions.
“Why they thought it was okay to get on school bus? I know there is a language barrier, but they also [need] to have some empathy…those are children, and how frightened they possibly were,” said Cardinale.
“We don't know any of their background history…the bottom line is we don't know any of their intentions,” said Jeremy Adams, whose son attends a school in the same school district.
Immigrant advocates said it's possible the men were confused, as buses are the main form of transportation in many home countries.
Sheriff's deputies told ABC 10News on Friday they determined no crime was committed, since their investigation found no one forcefully tried to stop or enter the school buses.
"It is not uncommon for community volunteers and charitable organizations to provide resources in these parts of the county, some of which operate vehicles similar to school buses," the sheriff's office wrote in an email.
Meanwhile, school district officials say deputies and Border Patrol agents escorted the buses on Thursday and Friday.
A nervous Apollo didn’t want to go on the bus, so a neighbor took him to school.
“He was a little timid and kind of shook about about the situation,” said Cardinale.
The Border Patrol says it plans to continue with extra patrols in the area. School District officials say they will be coming up with a new security plan for daily bus routes.
