A migrant shelter in San Diego is closing operations after the Trump administration cut funding and implemented policy changes that resulted in more than 100 employees being laid off.
According to Fox News, the shelter —the Jewish Family Service of San Diego — had been open for over six years as a regional migrant shelter, announced it would be permanently closing.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) said in a statement that since the Customs and Border Protection One phone app had been closed down on January 20, they had not received any new asylum seekers. The app, initially developed during the first Trump administration to streamline scheduling cargo inspections, eventually facilitated the parole of immigrants into the U.S.
In 2023, its functionality was extended to allow migrants to book appointments at ports of entry, originally due to an exemption from the Title 42 public health order. Since May, under the Biden administration’s expansion of “lawful pathways,” migrants could be paroled into the U.S. through this app.
By the end of December, over 936,500 individuals had secured appointments for parole via the app, according to CBP.
“With migrants no longer able to use the CBP One application, the San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN) Migrant Shelter Services, operated by JFS, has not received new asylum-seeking families and individuals released from short term federal custody into our care. Due to these changes in federal funding and policy, the SDRRN Migrant Shelter Services will be paused until there is better understanding of future community needs,” the statement said.
The NGO added they were “focusing its immigration efforts on providing pro bono legal services and community support resources.”
CEO Michael Hopkins said the NGO had been getting prepared for the changes, and while asylum seeking was down, requests for legal assistance with immigration had increased.
“We’ve been preparing for these changes in federal policies and enforcement,” Hopkins said. “While there are no longer individuals or families seeking asylum released from short-term federal immigration custody to our Shelter Services, we are seeing increased needs for immigration legal assistance and other social service supports to vulnerable San Diegans. We’re also continuing to collaborate with our community partners to explore new ways to offer assistance.”
