As a supervisor for San Diego County, I’ve had the opportunity to witness firsthand the alarming situation at the Iris Avenue transit station, where Border Patrol agents are dropping off thousands of migrants. In just the past 16 days, over 11,000 migrants have been released at this site, adding to the staggering total of over 108,000 migrants dropped off in San Diego County since last September.

The scene at the transit station is one of controlled chaos. As the Border Patrol buses pull up, migrants, predominantly young males between the ages of 20 and 35, disembark with a sense of bewilderment. They are left vulnerable to exploitation, including human trafficking, as they are essentially abandoned.

While nonprofits are stepping in to assist many migrants, facilitating their transit to airports and out of the county, the fate of countless others remains unknown. We have no way of tracking how many individuals are staying in our communities, falling prey to human traffickers, or slipping through the cracks of our broken immigration system.

This crisis is a result of our own failings. By allowing migrants to bypass legal channels and jump ahead of the line, we incentivize illegal immigration and endanger everyone. Why would anyone respect our legal processes when we disregard them ourselves?

It’s time to take responsibility and enforce our legal immigration system.

Let’s work together to address the root causes of illegal immigration, improve our asylum processes, and provide pathways for legal immigration. Only then can we truly uphold the values of compassion and fairness that define us as a nation.

Jim Desmond

– San Diego County District 5 Supervisor