SAN DIEGO (NEWSnet/AP) — Over five years, the largest U.S. city on the Mexican border developed a well-oiled system to shelter asylum-seekers.

That system is being tested as U.S. Customs and Border Protection releases migrants to the streets of San Diego because shelters are full. Since Sept. 13, about 13,000 have been dropped at transit stations with notices to appear in immigration court in the U.S., with about 500 more arriving daily.

Migrant aid groups blame a mix of circumstances for the shelter crunch: reduced government funding; CBP’s practice of sending migrants from Texas and Arizona to be processed in San Diego; and a surge in illegal crossings.

Last week, President Joe Biden’s administration advanced a plan for a border wall in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley and said it would resume deportation flights to Venezuela.

Before migrants are released in San Diego, some have waited between a double-layer border wall or camped under Border Patrol watch in mountains east of the city. CBP closed a major pedestrian border crossing from Tijuana, Mexico, on Sept. 14, and assigned more officials to processing migrants.

“Many do not know where they are, that this is San Diego, this is (the) San Diego region, the nearest airport is San Diego and how to get to their final destination. That is what we’re trying to provide support with,” said Paulina Reyes-Perrariz, managing attorney for Immigrant Defenders Law Center’s cross-border initiative.

Illegal crossings topped a daily average of more than 8,000 last month after a lull following the start of new asylum restrictions in May had diminishing impact. People from dozens of countries, notably Venezuela, were drawn by prospects of jobs and safety.

About 95% of migrants in San Diego quickly move to other parts of the country. That’s a sharp contrast to cities far from the border, such as Chicago and New York. But a constant churn of migrants from more than 100 countries has created other strain that the San Diego County government calls “an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.”

Last week, after a community recreation center could no longer handle the flow of migrants, Border Patrol resumed drop-offs at a transit center. Arrivals from Brazil, China, Colombia, Ecuador, India and many west African countries filled a parking lot to charge phones, eat, use the bathroom and wait for free shuttle-bus rides to the airport.

Shelters still accommodate families with young children, members of the LGBTQ+ community, the elderly and medically frail. Drop-offs are mostly for single adults.

Since 2018, Jewish Family Service of San Diego and Catholic Charities together have helped more than 430,000 migrants in the region.  But Catholic Charities of San Diego recently reduced capacity by 50% at two hotels where it houses migrants, to about 800 people, who stay an average of fewer than two days, CEO Vino Pajanor said. Jewish Family Service has maintained shelter capacity at about 950 at a hotel and another large facility.

Border Patrol dropped about 400 migrants by early afternoon on a recent day as airport shuttles left once per hour. Overnight camping is prohibited. Migrants with flights within 24 hours are encouraged to wait at the airport.

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