SAN YSIDRO, California (Border Report) — The first group of asylum-seekers in the Migrant Protection Protocols program to be allowed into the U.S. arrived via the San Ysidro Port of Entry Friday morning in San Ysidro, Calif.
Border Report captured the moment a charter bus carrying a group of about 25-30 migrants emerged from the port of entry. Some of the migrants waved as the bus approached a group of reporters gathered on the U.S. side.
The rollback of the MPP program will be phased out to other ports of entry along the Southwest border.
On Monday, asylum-seekers in Matamoros, Mexico will be allowed into Brownsville, Texas, but those in Juarez, Mexico, won’t be admitted into El Paso, Texas, until Feb. 26.
“This is the beginning of eventually many more that will be crossing the border,” Michael Hopkins, CEO of Jewish Family Service of San Diego, told Border Report on Friday morning. “Even over the last couple of month, there’s been a small number of asylum-seekers that have been released by the government.”
Hopkins said JSF will provide food and shelter, including putting the migrants in hotels.
The group also provides adequate clothing for migrants who are headed to colder regions of the U.S., especially the East Coast.
“We know that a lot of these families are going east, and this time of year they need proper clothing,” Hopkins said. “Everything, from literally taking care of them, and making sure that their needs are met, and then getting them to the airport, and eventually to the gate that they need to get to, to make sure they continue their journey.”
President Joe Biden last month announced he was phasing out MPP, which the Trump administration started to manage the mass arrival of asylum-seekers from Central America and elsewhere in 2018 and 2019.
This is a developing story and will be updated as we gather more information. Look for updates here and at BorderReport.com
