ABC 7

June 14, 2024

While thousands of people seeking asylum in the U.S. wait in shelters in Mexico, hundreds who have already been granted the opportunity to begin that process through the CBP One app have found a safe landing place at the San Diego Rapid Response Network migrant shelter operated by Jewish Family Service of San Diego. Read the story of one family who escaped political persecution and found safety at the SDRRN migrant shelter.

KPBS

April 25, 2024

Earlier this month, the San Diego region was given nearly $40 million from the federal government’s Shelter and Services Program to help the migrant population. The money is split in half between San Diego County and Catholic Charities of San Diego and Jewish Family Service, organizations that has run migrant shelters in San Diego for years. Now that the money has been awarded, advocates want to see a collaborative approach between all levels of government and local service providers to come up with a lasting migrant welcome program.

CBS 8

April 25, 2024

FEMA announced our region will receive more than $39 million as part of its Shelter and Services program, half of which the county is getting directly. "There is a gap of about $11.8 million, even just to maintain the existing infrastructure that we have in our community. And so again, it's really a critical opportunity for the county to come alongside organizations like Jewish Family Service and Catholic Charities, in addition to those advocates and organizations that are supporting for the folks that are being released to the streets of San Diego,” said Kate Clark, Senior Director of Immigration Services at JFS.

Fox 5 San Diego

April 25, 2024

Jewish Family Service says it has helped 200,000 migrants in transit through San Diego County since 2018, providing them with temporary shelter, meals and transportation to their final destinations across the U.S. When county funding ran out in late February, JFS did not stop aiding asylum-seekers. “Organizations like Jewish Family Service in San Diego, Catholic Charities, Immigrant defenders, Al Otro Lado, Haitian Bridge Alliance, the list goes on for organizations that continue to step forward in the absences of funding,” said Kate Clark, Senior Director of Immigration Services with JFS. Learn more on how you can help ensure San Diego remains a welcoming place for those in search of a safer life—free from violence and persecution.

The San Diego Union-Tribune

April 25, 2024

Local migrant services groups are urging San Diego County leaders to collaborate with those working directly with migrants on the ground before deciding how to spend its recent $19.6 millions allocation from the federal government. “It is our expectation that we’re able to think through a regional plan that hopefully gets to a place of avoiding street releases,” said Kate Clark, senior director of immigration services for Jewish Family Service of San Diego, “but in order to do that, the organizations that are closest to the work really need to inform the county how they can put forth a plan to the federal government to use these funds.”

Times of San Diego

April 25, 2024

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it would offer $39.2 million in new federal funding to the San Diego region as part of its Shelter and Services Program. But there are now concerns that the very groups which built these advocacy networks locally are being left out of discussion. Learn more on how you can help ensure San Diego remains a welcoming place for those in search of a safer life—free from violence and persecution.

Press Release

April 25, 2024

This blueprint for humanitarian reception was developed by the Women’s Refugee Commission and the Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFSSD). Over the last five-plus years, JFSSD has adapted and expanded its shelter network and services to serve more than 201,000 people seeking safety. This respite shelter network serves as a road map for how governments and communities across the US can build upon the experiences and lessons learned from the model in San Diego.

SDRRN

February 23, 2024

SDRRN Migrant Shelter Services’ resources and infrastructure are currently stretched to capacity. We cannot provide respite shelter and services to all the people seeking asylum that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is releasing. The shelter will continue receiving up to 300 of the most vulnerable asylum seekers released by DHS daily, including people with medical conditions, families, pregnant people, LGBTQI people, older adults, etc., as space allows.

Associated Press

January 5, 2024

Migrants are arriving in the U.S. under the Biden administration’s new “safe mobility offices.” The idea is to streamline the U.S. refugee process so migrants don’t give up and pay smugglers to make the journey north, further straining the U.S.-Mexico border, which has seen record-high numbers of crossings.

Los Angeles Times

December 15, 2023

Nearly 1,100 migrant families have been separated while being processed at the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego since September, immigrant advocacy groups, including Jewish Family Service of San Diego, said in a letter sent Thursday to the Department of Homeland Security that seeks an investigation into the matter (Read Letter). The separations stem from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s ongoing practice of releasing high volumes of migrants to street locations around San Diego County without coordinated reception plans. “The trauma families experience during the periods of separation is compounded by CBP’s lack of communication and the near-total opacity of their practices,” states the letter to the Department of Homeland Security’s office of civil rights and civil liberties, which was also signed by the ACLU Foundation of San Diego and Imperial Counties, and Jewish Family Service of San Diego.

December 14, 2023

In the midst of significant increases of family separations at the San Diego border region, Al Otro Lado, ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties (ACLUF-SDIC), Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, and Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFSSD) filed an administrative complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) today with grave concerns about the number of families separated during and after asylum processing at the southern border.

ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties, Al Otro Lado, Jewish Family Service of San Diego, UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy

December 14, 2023

We write with concerns about U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)’s practices relating to the processing of family groups at the southern border which result in harmful separations.

Media Statement

November 30, 2023

Starting in mid-September 2023 and continuing to this day, more than 20,000 people seeking asylum have been left at transit centers and other locations throughout the San Diego region without any resources. All asylum seekers should be welcomed compassionately with dignity and respect.

October 4, 2023

Miles4Migrants, Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFSSD), and San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN) have teamed up to provide essential aid to asylum seekers left vulnerable on the streets of San Diego. This collaborative effort aims to facilitate 150 flights per week, offering a lifeline to these individuals and families, reuniting them with their loved ones across the United States.

ABC 10 News

October 3, 2023

A nonprofit called Miles4Migrants is turning donated points into free flights for asylum seekers who’ve arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border in south San Diego County. “Our sense is that 98% of individuals actually have a point of contact or loved one outside of San Diego that they’re looking to connect with,” said Kate Clark, Senior Director of Immigration Services at Jewish Family Service of San Diego. Donate miles today by clicking here.

September 29, 2023

We urge all levels of government to continue funding the critical resources needed to sustain operations and to welcome and assist all people seeking asylum arriving in the San Diego border region. And importantly, following the County of San Diego Board of Supervisors’ resolution passed on Sept. 26, we urge the County to take action and use its own funds and seek other funding sources to fulfill this urgent need.

asylum, asylum-seekers, migrant, The San Diego Union-Tribune

September 26, 2023

With growing numbers of migrants arriving in San Diego County in recent weeks, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to declare a humanitarian crisis for asylum seekers at the border and request more federal support. More than 8,100 migrants have been dropped off in the region in the last two weeks, according to the county — an influx county officials say shows no sign of slowing. The increase in the number of migrant arrivals in recent weeks is the first significant influx reported since new asylum restrictions were introduced in May when hundreds of migrants waited between the border walls for the end of a pandemic-era immigration policy that blocked asylum seekers and other migrants from entering the U.S. Kate Clark, senior director of immigration services at JFS, spoke to why we were at this moment at this time. View the page in the print edition of The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The San Diego Union-Tribune

May 24, 2023

“Our immigration system is broken,” says Kate Clark, JFS’s Senior Director of Immigration Services, as she calls on the public to hold elected officials accountable for rebuilding the immigration system. The Border Patrol recently created a horrific humanitarian situation, detaining hundreds of migrants between the border fences. San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN) Migrant Shelter Services, which is operated by JFS, stands ready to continue to help asylum seekers, despite restrictive new border policies imposed by the Biden Administration after Title 42 was lifted on May 11.

The New York Times

May 21, 2023

The San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN) Migrant Shelter Services, which is operated by JFS, is assisting Afghan refugees who were U.S. allies during the war but were left behind when American troops left Kabul in 2021. Thousands are fleeing the country, fearing retaliation from the Taliban. Many know the Biden Administration is clamping down on immigration but are risking the perilous journey from South America through the Darien Gap, which is being advertised on TikTok, Facebook, and WhatsApp by smugglers claiming it is safe. Once in Border Patrol custody, they are considered “aliens,” subject to deportation. The Afghans qualify for humanitarian parole in the U.S., but few have been approved.

KPBS

May 19, 2023

Humanitarian groups, including Immigrants Defenders Law Center and the American Friends Service Committee, are calling attention to what they call human rights violations by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Since the lifting of Title 42 border restrictions, the San Diego Rapid Response Migrant Shelter Service, which is operated by JFS, has seen as many as five times more migrants per day than average, according to JFS’s Kate Clark, Senior Director of Immigration Services. Clark says JFS is coordinating the processing of asylum-seekers with federal partners, including the Department of Homeland Security.