For the first time in days, the welcome center at Calvary San Diego is empty. The church’s campus is much quieter and the number of Ukrainian refugee families present is just one.
It’s a much different sight than just hours prior.
“Literally two hours ago there were 80 people here but a bus pulls up and all of a sudden everyone gets on it and it drives off,” said Phillip Metzger, lead pastor at Calvary San Diego.
According to Pastor Metzger, San Diego resettlement agencies, including Jewish Family Services and Catholic Charities will now be taking over the housing for arriving Ukrainian refugees.
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“We continue to be on the forefront of everything that is happening but in terms of housing people we realize that we don't want to create a concierge option type of thing this is about helping people the best that we can and we are very thankful that we have those options now for people,” said Metzger.
Metzger says JFS and Catholic Charities were already hosting families but now they will be taking over the housing aspect so that the church can focus all their efforts at the border.
“We’re not stopping, we’re pressing in as hard as we can in however we can help the people,” said Metzger.
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According to Metzger, there are now over 3,000 people waiting to plead for asylum in Tijuana
“It's a lot of people, it's just a lot of people," said Metzger.
The Ped West Border Crossing opened for the first time in two years on Wednesday. Since then, Metzger says the amount of people crossing has nearly doubled every day.
“Everyone is doing their job so I don't know what a solution is, I just know it's backing up pretty intense there,” said Metzger.
He says he will continue working to get as many families as possible to safety.
