For weeks, the San Diego Rapid Response Network, a coalition that includes the American Civil Liberties Union, Jewish Family Service and the San Diego Organizing Project sheltered families and provided medical care, food and warm clothes. Most of the migrants spend only a few nights at the shelter before traveling to relatives or sponsors in other parts of the country, where they will remain until the completion of their asylum proceedings.
The organizations are now calling on local governments and the state to help – and say they aren’t getting the help they need.
“Yes, this is a problem created by federal immigration policy, but we have a local responsibility to act and stop pointing fingers at each other and find solutions, working with different sectors,” ACLU Executive Director Norma Chávez-Peterson said.
