Lack of funding closing San Diego County's migrant center, organizers say

SBCS formerly known as South Bay Community Services could be shutting their doors soon unless they receive more funding.

SBCS has been operating as a San Diego County-funded migrant center since October 2023.

A representative from the center told NBC 7 in 2023 that the center provides services such as food, supplies and transportation costs for migrants at the U.S.—Mexico border.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors authorized $3 million in emergency funding in 2023 to open the center to handle the influx of migrants arriving in San Diego.

“As the number of migrants arriving at the center has increased significantly over the last few weeks, our finite resources have been stretched to the limit, leading to the closure of the center on February 22^nd,” SBCS President and CEO Kathie Lembo said in a statement to NBC 7.  

Some local organizations are preparing for the future.

“Now that it’s possible that the center will no longer be in place or operating, we will go back to providing the much needed emergency humanitarian aid along with other organizations and community members that did it before,” Managing Attorney at Immigrant Defenders Law Center Paulina Reyes-Perrariz said.

Some local lawmakers said trying to keep the migrant center open is unsustainable.

“We are taking money out of our coffers which could be used for roads or infrastructure or for homelessness, health services or anything else in San Diego County and its going towards migrant services,” San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond said.

Staff at the migrant center continue to seek more funding.

“We will continue working with the County and our partners in hopes of identifying additional resources to keep the center open, preventing hundreds of individuals a day from being stranded in San Diego without the support they need to continue their journey,” Lembo said.