By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left:  Lilian Serrano, Director, Southern Border Communities Coalition

May 18, 2023 (Jacumba Hot Springs) —the U.S. Immigration Policy Center (USIPC) at the University of California, San Diego, issued a blistering report accusing Border Patrol of endangering migrants’ lives by depriving them of food, water, shelter, medical care and other necessities. The damning report is titled Lives in Danger:  Seeking Asylum Against the Backdrop of Increased Border Enforcement. It was published on May 16, two days after ECM broke the story of some 1,000 to 2,000 migrants in Jacumba Hot Springs who were aided by residents after Border Patrol failed to provide food or shelter.

In addition, the nonprofit humanitarian group Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) has filed a federal complaint with Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, alleging mistreatment of the Jacumba asylum-seekers and violations of both U.S. and international law.

Lilian Serrano, director of SBCC, told ECM in an interview for KNSJ radio that volunteers withessed ”families, children, elders waiting outdoors for days without access to food or water.”  Regarding filing the complaint, she said, ”Our hope is that we can find out why were there outdoor detention facilities in our area, what was the reasoning behind that, and why were agents in full, clear violation of their policy – but more importantly, what can we do to prevent this from every happening again? Because regardless of your situation, whether you are coming in for asylum or not, basic standards need to be met. We cannot allow another child to go hungry in front of a federal agent.”

More than 50 employers to attend 2nd Annual Event

Photo: job seeker conversing with recruiters at Grossmont College job fair

Source: Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District

March 16, 2023 (El Cajon) -- Grossmont College will welcome more than 50 employers representing industries such as healthcare, hotels and tourism, public safety, local government, retail, and defense, as part of the 2nd Annual Refugee Job Fair March 23. 

By Susan Taylor

January 15, 2023 (El Cajon) - “Now I Know my ABCs.”  So sang the five Afghani women in a recent English as a Second Language class in El Cajon at the Regional Center on East Main Street. On this, day the men from Afghanistan were absent, as often happens, since some have one or more jobs. Only two of the students in the class were from Mexico, a reflection of changing demographics.

Supervisor Anderson to introduce measure to help those stranded, seek funds from FEMA – and asks public to sign petition in support

By Miriam Raftery

View video of interview with Sup. Joel Anderson

Hear audio of our interview aired on KNSJ Radio

December 31, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – With extreme cold gripping much of the nation and shelters for asylum-seekers full, the federal government sent hundreds to San Diego County. Border Patrol agents dumped at least 880 asylum seekers off at transit stations, including 140 abandoned at the El Cajon Transit Center last weekend starting on Christmas Eve.

Update November 16, 2022: The judge has granted an extension until Dec. 21 for this ruling to take effect, though if an appeal is filed, that deadline could be put on hold.

By Miriam Raftery

File photo: migrants in Mexico: CC by SA via Bing

November 15, 2022 (Washington D.C.) -- A federal court today struck down Title 42, which was used by the federal government to expel asylum seekers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling applies to families and single adults.

By Miriam Raftery

September 4, 2022 (El Cajon) –  The El Cajon nonprofit License to Freedom has been counseling nine children in a Syrian refugee family traumatized first by war in their homeland, and now by the death of their mother, who was found shot in the family’s home. In an interview with East County Magazine originally aired on KNSJ radio,

Dilkhwaz Ahmed, founder of License to Freedom, provides an update on the children’s situation, also sharing information on the stresses facing refugee families. The  children’s father, Abdulhannan Abdurazaq Al Rawi, has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.

“It’s so hard,” Ahmed says, when asked how the children, ages 2-17, are doing. “In a situation like that, the community gets together.” She says other Syrian refugees in the community worked to help the children, as did people in the Sudanese community, since the babysitter is from Sudan. “One of their close friends, a family from Syria, decided to take the kids, and they have seven kids,” Ahmed said.  “The wife was best friends with the mom…it’s heartbreaking.”

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  migrant camp in Mexico; CC via Bing

July 2, 2022 (Washington D.C.) – The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 this week to allow the Biden administration to end the “Remain in Mexico” policy imposed by Trump, a program officially known as the Migrant Protection Protocols. That policy forced most migrants to stay in Mexico instead of being either detained in the U.S. or released here while awaiting immigration hearings. But hurdles remain before most migrants can be granted entry into the U.S.

East County News Service

June 4, 2022 (San Diego) – The House of Ukraine invites the public to join in a #SaveUkrainianChildren peaceful rally tonight at 5 p.m. followed by a candlelight vigil at 7 p.m. as part of a worldwide effort to help Ukrainian children amid the Russian invasion.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Border fence, cc by ND

Update April 23, 2022: A federal judge has temporarily blocked the lifting of Title 42 restrictions.

April 9, 2022 (San Diego) – At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the Trump administration began expelling migrants without access to asylum hearings under Title 42.  Now, after lifting of most other pandemic mandates, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control director has announced that suspending migrants’ rights is “no longer necessary” after “considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19, such as highly effective vaccines and therapeutics,” the CDC announced in a statement.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Ukrainian refugees crossing into Poland; Creative Commons image via Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs

March 29, 2022 (San Diego) – San Diego County Supervisors have issued statements preparing to welcome Ukrainian refugees, following President Joe Biden’s announcement that the U.S. will admit up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine displaced by the Russian invasion. 

Nathan Fletcher, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, issued a statement which reads in part, “Our county has time and again stepped up to help refugees and this time is no different. Together with Los Angeles and Sacramento, we are the largest metropolitan regions in California expected to accept these refugees.”

Fletcher added that the County has also begun helping Ukrainian refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border.

By Matthew Manosh

Photos:  finalists Diego Lynch, Mimi Pollack and Bettina Hanna created films set in San Diego’s East County.

March 21, 2022 (San Diego) – Migrant stories from around the world were poignantly displayed at the San Diego Latino Film Festival on March 15, when finalists in the fourth annual Migrant Voices Today Challenge were presented. The finalists included East County producers and directors as well as stories set in East County.

By Matthew Manosh

Scroll down to links to videos from vigils

March 1, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) -- Local Ukrainian-Americans gathered in demonstrations these past few days in solidarity with their nation, which is under attack from Russian forces. Thursday night,  a prayer vigil was held in Santee on a vacant lot, where there are plans to build a Ukrainian Catholic Church. Father Yurii Sas of St. John the Baptizer Catholic Church in San Diego led his congregation in prayer and song, asking for God to protect his people in the Ukraine: