…..and arriving in San Diego. Gee, why San Diego?
From SignOn San Diego:
A record number of Haitians have arrived on America’s southern doorstep, asking for asylum or temporary parole just as the United States is set to resume deportations to Haiti next month — one year after the catastrophic earthquake in the island country.
About 150 Haitian families are accounted for via local charities or border enforcement. While the number is not huge, the growth compared to previous years is astonishing to immigration experts and local advocates and could signify an oncoming wave.
“Historically we have never seen that many,” said Michael McKay, director of refugee services for Catholic Charities, which is assisting 30 families who have applied for asylum or temporary parole. “My suspicion is the door is closing in other places and the word is out that they may be able to get help through the border here.”
Previously, the organization saw one or two Haitians a year, he said. Christ Methodist Church in San Diego is also sponsoring families awaiting immigration proceedings, McKay added.
Currently, 108 Haitians are being detained in San Diego. The majority of those individuals had presented themselves to port of entry officers, said Barbara Gonzales, southern regional spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In January, there were only four Haitians in custody.
[….]
Haiti has been in turmoil since a devastating earthquake Jan. 12 killed more than 230,000 people. Almost immediately, the Obama administration halted deportations and offered a temporary-stay program to those already in the U.S. when the temblor occurred. So far, 61,000 applications for temporary stay have been processed, according to U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services.
61,000 Haitians have applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) so far! Whew! TPS was granted by the Obama Administration after the Earthquake in Haiti and allowed anyone already (at that time) illegally in the US from Haiti to stay until some date in the future when the TPS would be lifted. But, guess what, TPS is usually just extended over and over, so they never go home, they become part of the amnesty lobby.
I don’t see how this new wave can get TPS. It seems to me they would have to apply for asylum and prove some sort of persecution.
Why San Diego? I think the word is out. Open borders activists are encouraging Haitians to come to San Diego and they probably have lawyers waiting to help them get into the US.
Also, Catholic Charities and not the City, County or State of California is running the refugee/asylee program in San Diego County. See the Office of Refugee Resettlement list of states and the one county whose refugee programs are now being run by a “church” group federal contractor and the US State Department (we learned about it here just two days ago). I still don’t get it—why doesn’t the ACLU see a separation of church and state issue with the refugee program. And, I continue to be amazed that CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) doesn’t squawk about all the Christian and one Jewish federal refugee contractors. Shush! I bet the State Department is hoping and praying CAIR doesn’t figure it out!
Endnote: Just a reminder that San Diego is also the city with the recent Somali terror probe. Here we have a whole bunch of stories archived on San Diego Somalis and terror investigations and arrests. It appears also that San Diego was a point of departure for some of the Somali missing youths who left Minnesota beginning in 2008 (maybe earlier) to return to Africa for jihad training with Al-Shabaab.