Desmond's claims of a mass migration crisis in San Diego comes as Border Patrol agents release hundreds of illegal immigrants onto city streets
Several hundred migrants released in San Diego: 'You're free'
FOX News' Bill Melugin provides details on the mass release of migrants as Border Patrol struggles to keep up with the immigration crisis.
San Diego supervisor Jim Desmond told a local California news outlet that the county can no longer handle the thousands of migrants pouring in during a local news appearance Wednesday.
"We’re not [the] immigration department. We don’t have these types of resources available," Desmond told NBC 7.
"The best cure would be, you know, when we’re at capacity, stop bringing — letting people in for a while — or we need a better system," he added. "Our immigration system is failed, it is broken. This is not the way to run an immigration system."
MASS MIGRANT RELEASES BEGIN IN SAN DIEGO AS BORDER OVERWHELMED: 'YOU'RE FREE'
San Diego supervisor Jim Desmond told local news that the county can no longer handle the thousands of migrants pouring in during an appearance on NBC 7, Wednesday. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
Desmond's claims of a mass migration crisis in San Diego comes as Border Patrol agents release hundreds of illegal immigrants onto city streets. San Diego is struggling to deal with a surge of migrants into the area — just after similar releases had started in Arizona.
Video out of San Diego shows hundreds of migrants being released from buses onto the streets, with migrants even coming from China and Pakistan. A conversation in the video shows a migrant speaking to a Border Patrol agent, who tells him he can do whatever he wants now.
"You’re free to go on and do wherever you want. You’re free," the agent says.
Our immigration system is broken and now we are seeing the consequences.
— Supervisor Jim Desmond (@jim_desmond) September 20, 2023
Over 3,500 migrants have been dropped at transit stations throughout San Diego County in the past 6 days. This is not sustainable! pic.twitter.com/yFVqrELMjg
"It’s no problem if I go to Chicago?" the migrant asks.
"You can do whatever you want," the agent says.
Desmond's claims of a mass migration crisis in San Diego comes as Border Patrol agents release hundreds of illegal immigrants onto city streets. ((Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images))
This is after releases have been taking place in Arizona in the Tucson Sector for days as agents have been facing 2,000 encounters a day and images have emerged of packed shelters in places like Ajo.
Meanwhile, Texas is continuing to use razor wire to block migrants trying to enter illegally, as it fends off a challenge from the Biden administration seeking to stop it from building a buoy barrier in the Rio Grande.
The border as a whole has seen multiple days last week of over 7,000 illegal crossings, and when combined with migrants who have come to the ports of entry, that number rises to over 9,000.
Texas has also been a focus of the mass migration crisis. More than 2,200 migrants were captured on video heading toward Eagle Pass, Texas, overnight in one of the largest border crossings observed by Fox News in the past two years.
Fox News Digital reached out to Border Patrol for comment. This story will be updated with any response.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin, Danielle Wallace and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
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Jeffrey Clark is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. He has previously served as a speechwriter for a cabinet secretary and as a Fulbright teacher in South Korea. Jeffrey graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 with a degree in English and History.
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