The mayor of Murrieta called the anticipated arrival of 140 undocumented immigrants a failure of the federal government during a Monday press conference.
Mayor Alan Long said the immigrants would be transported from a Texas Border Patrol Station to the Murrieta Border Patrol Station as early as Tuesday.
“This is a significant impact to our resources, but is well within the capacity of what we have here regionally,” he said.
Initial plans to transport 500 undocumented immigrants to the city were lowered, but Long said Murrieta may receive an additional 140 immigrants every 72 hours for several weeks.
Long said failures of federal law and lack of enforcement led to the situation. He then read sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act that stated people in the U.S. illegally or in violation of the INA were deportable.
“We have no authority to enforce that federal law, that needs to take place as the federal level,” he said.
The majority of those being taken to Murrieta would be families, women and children, Long said.
The border station would process 25 immigrants per eight-hour shift.
Once processed, it would be the responsibility of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent to make sure they arrived at their mode transportation and end destination, Long said.
The possible modes of transportation and end destinations expected were not specified during the press conference.
Hundreds protested Monday against the possible transportation of the immigrants to the city.
“We want to send the message that the illegal aliens that are entering our country need to be repatriated to their home nation,” one protester said.
Anyone with questions was asked to contact an informational hotline established by the Murrieta Police Department at 951-837-4343.
Questions could also be emailed to immigration@murrieta.org.
Long said updated information would be posted on city websites and asked that people spread factual information.
