SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Iris Avenue has been one of the key drop-off points for migrants entering the United States. For months, ABC 10News has reported from this location, showing what it looks like and how the number of arrivals has changed since President Biden’s executive order.
Earlier this week, ABC 10News spoke with County Supervisor Jim Desmond, who said he was informed that migrant street releases were set to resume last Friday.
“They were going to restart those releases because our Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed at the southern border,” Desmond said.
However, he said that those releases were halted before they began.
“They’re busing and even flying people out of San Diego County to other parts of the nation,” he added.
Desmond said this move is politically motivated by the federal government ahead of Election Day, now just over a week away.
“I absolutely think it’s because of the upcoming election,” Desmond said. “The optics of people being dropped off on the street in a public place are much more damaging to a candidate.”
In response, ABC 10News reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to clarify. A spokesperson stated that transfers are conducted as part of CBP’s law enforcement operations to detain and quickly remove migrants from the country.
The spokesperson said that community releases are always a last resort and that additional capacity in other sectors is utilized to detain individuals during processing.
According to CBP, these transfers are a “common operation” based on border security priorities, not political considerations.
ABC 10News has reported similar transfer operations beyond San Diego. In August, sources and the mayor of Yuma confirmed that migrants were being transferred there from San Diego.
While Desmond acknowledged that sector transfers are not new, he referred to last week’s halted release as a “bait and switch.”
As it enforces the law, U.S. Customs and Border Protection may transfer migrants in order to detain them and expeditiously remove them from the country - instead of simply releasing them. Community releases are always a last resort, so we utilize the additional capacity in other sectors to detain individuals while they are being processed through expedited removal. Overall, the Securing the Border Rule has made a meaningful impact on our ability to impose consequences for those crossing unlawfully; encounters are down 55%, releases are down by more than 80% and known gotaways are down by 60%. This reduction has enabled us to further increase our focus on disrupting and dismantling transnational criminal organizations.
