With the end of Title 42 less than a week away, migrant shelters across San Diego are scrambling to expand their capacity in anticipation of a major surge.
Here’s how it works: Jewish Family Services of San Diego (JFSSD) works with CBP and ICE to bus people released from the Office of Field Of Operations at the port of entry to the shelter.
One of those shelters is the San Diego Rapid Response Network. It’s operated by JFSSD.
Top Stories on NBC 7 San Diego
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
Over the last four-plus years, they have expanded their shelter network to serve 120,000 people seeking safety.
Safe Harbors Network is another nonprofit helping connect migrants to host families for temporary housing.
Alberto Melchor, program manager of Safe Harbors Network, said their shelter has capacity for 125 people, but they are looking to expand and they welcome volunteers willing to host.
“We’re full. Our capacity is … we’re at max. We’ve been at max for a while so whenever we get somebody, we’re scrambling to find a place for them, which could be a hotel or somewhere else,” he said.
Most migrants seeking asylum are placed in public shelters, but since many of these have reached full capacity, they’re getting creative with a host family program.
Volunteers must commit to hosting for six months with a re-evaluation at three months.
These volunteers are being asked to provide a private room, kitchen access and basic toiletries to their guests.
Organizers of the program say the goal is to equip asylum seekers with the resources to become self-sufficient.
A man from Haiti said he found shelter through the Safe Harbors Network.
“We would like to be in our country of origin, but our country has nothing to offer us. Look at what happened, they killed our president," he said.
Rev. Jeri Newell-Davis welcomed a mother and newborn into her home without knowing them or even speaking their language.
She served as a host for this family through Safe Harbors Network.
She said the mother she hosted left Ghana due to persecution and then flew to Colombia, where her journey to San Diego began.
Newell-Davis said she then came up through Central America, and eventually presented herself at the San Ysidro Point of Entry.
She said the woman was in detention when she went into labor.
Newell-Davis says she and her husband opened the doors to this mother and her son for 18 months. While they no longer live under the same roof, she said they still see each other like family.
“If we want safety and security for us, for our children, for our family members, why wouldn’t we want that for somebody else? What separates them? Is it their color, is it their language, is it their culture, is it their religion … should not matter,” Newell-Davis said.
Two years ago, thousands of unaccompanied children were housed at the San Diego Convention Center while waiting to reunite with their family.
The migrant shelter closed that same year.
Now, with Title 42 lifting next week, city leaders say additional resources are needed to handle the large crowds of people.
