La Prensa SD Staff 
The San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium asked California Governor Jerry Brown to set up a camp to provide shelter for all the immigrants who have been arriving in recent months from Haiti, Africa, and Latin America.
The shelters available for them to stay while they process their permit to enter the United States do not have nearly enough space, and only a church on El Cajon Blvd. is helping this community with a place to sleep and be officially housed.
Ginger Jacobs, an attorney who provides expert immigration services and Chair of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium, stated that over 4,000 foreign citizens have been authorized between May and Mid-August to enter the United States, thanks to a humanitarian permit that allows them to remain in the country for an average of three years.
“There are thousands of people, mostly Haitian nationals who had been working in Brazil, coming here,” said Jacobs. “With the economic and political destabilization in Brazil, many of them are coming here to the United States. Many of them have families here, particularly in New York and Florida, but they are entering through San Diego because it is the most direct route, because they’re traveling by land,” said Jacobs.
According to the Consortium, the California State Government will come no later than September 18 to present specialized camp plans, with the support of the National Guard and the Red Cross, in order to best manage the resources and help offered by charitable organizations serving the needy.
The siting for the camp in San Diego that will provide shelter for the large number of people arriving daily has not been decided yet. However, immigration experts say the camp is absolutely necessary in light of the number that arrive daily seeking political asylum.
On September 12 alone, more than 1,500 immigrants arrived in Tijuana and, according to the Baja California State Office of the Secretary, over 6,000 have come thus far in 2016 looking for a better life in the United States.
“We have people of many nationalities arriving at the Calexico and San Ysidro Ports of Entry, but they lack the legal documentation needed to enter the U.S. We have recently seen an increase in the number of Haitians arriving to both Calexico and San Ysidro, which are both short-staffed. We are processing then at a base, case by case,” informed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to La Prensa San Diego.
The situation might continue to get worse, according to Jacobs, particularly because of the changes going on in the world
“I have personally visited the Port of Entry and I see that they are doing everything they can for these people. It isn’t a lack of cooperation by the government or U.S. Customs and Border Protection; they are doing the best they can, but they need more resources to safeguard and protect these immigrants. Charity organizations also need more resources to care for these people,” she added.
In the meantime, while federal agencies in the U.S. go through the selection process to grant political asylum and humanitarian permits to the thousands of immigrants coming to their ports of entry, those who have already managed to cross into the U.S. now fear potential deportations.
Legal advocates said it was essential for all people, regardless of their place of origin or immigration status, to know their basic rights. These basic rights are: not being deported without it being ordered by a judge; the right to a hearing before a judge; not being detained or arrested for no reason; and not being searched without probable cause.
