From SDRRN Steering Committee: Kate Clark, senior director of immigration services, Jewish Family Service of San Diego; Norma Chavez-Peterson, executive director, ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties; David Garcias, former president, Local 221 SEIU; and Alejandra Garcias, Dreamer Center project specialist, Southwestern College.

Every day, San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN) Migrant Shelter Services welcomes hundreds of asylum seekers released from U.S. Department of Homeland Security with a priority on the most vulnerable, including those with medical conditions, families, LGBTQI, etc.

Due to the extreme weather conditions impacting outbound travel, our resources and current infrastructure are stretched to capacity each night. At this time, we are currently welcoming up to 300 asylum seekers daily. When conditions prevent guests from departing, we have to limit arrivals only to the most vulnerable asylum seekers released by DHS.

Presently, we cannot respond to requests coming through the SDRRN emergency hotline to assist in sheltering additional asylum seekers.

We call on the federal government to prioritize rebuilding our country’s broken asylum and immigration systems, including improved processes for migrant shelter services across the border region. All levels of government must work together to welcome and meet the needs of all asylum seekers arriving in San Diego.  

SDRRN remains committed to welcoming asylum seekers into our country, with public health as our top priority.

For more information about the current situation, media may contact the State of California’s public information officers — California Department of Social Services: Scott Murray, [email protected], or Jason Montiel, [email protected]; California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services: [email protected].  

About San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN)

As the operators of SDRRN Migrant Shelter Services, Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) in partnership with the State of California provides food, shelter, case management, and medical and legal services to welcome asylum seekers with dignity and respect.

Together, we have created critical infrastructure that has kept our community, staff, and migrant families safe, meeting extraordinary needs in historic circumstances.

We are grateful for the State of California’s continued leadership and support, much of which has made possible the extraordinary success we have had in welcoming more than 110,000 asylum seekers since we launched the SDRRN Migrant Shelter Services in October 2018.

This critical work is only possible with the support of donations at www.rapidresponsesd.org and volunteers at www.jfssd.org/helpnow.

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