Voice of San Diego

February 18, 2025

President Donald Trump froze the federal funding that allowed resettlement agencies to support newly arrived refugees. Michael Hopkins, CEO of Jewish Family Service of San Diego, said that his organization received a stop work order and is fundraising to support the 22 recently arrived families in its care. That includes a family of six from Afghanistan who arrived the day before the stop work order, Hopkins said. The father of the family had worked with the U.S. military, he said.

Times of San Diego

February 16, 2025

Faced with a halt in federal funding and the closing of the border to refugees, Jewish Family Service of San Diego is shutting down its shelter and shifting focus to legal support of asylum seekers.
CEO Michael Hopkins said in a statement received Saturday that following the Trump administration’s suspension of the CBP One smartphone asylum-filing application on Jan. 20, no refugee individuals or families have been released to the shelter. In addition, $22 million in promised federal funding has not been received, leading to future layoffs of the shelter staff.
“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,” Hopkins added.

The San Diego Union-Tribune

February 15, 2025

Jewish Family Service said that once the layoffs are finalized in April — the law requires 60 days notice for mass layoffs — it will cease operations of its San Diego Rapid Response Network migrant shelter services. The organization said in a statement that its transition shelter — which provided medical screenings, food, case management, legal support and travel coordination — has received no new migrants since Inauguration Day, when the Trump administration ended use of the CBP One app.The organization also said it has not received any of the $22 million it was awarded last year by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Shelter and Services Program.

February 10, 2025

SAN DIEGO (Updated Feb. 18, 2025) – Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) is working to meet the evolving needs of the community in response to recent and anticipated federal policy changes. With a deep commitment to its core value of "Welcome the Stranger," JFS is focusing its immigration efforts on providing pro bono legal services and community support resources.

Times of San Diego

February 2, 2025

In this Op-Ed by Jewish Family Service CEO Michael Hopkins, he discusses the agency’s longtime commitment to Welcoming the Stranger and why it is important to look at refugees on the human level. Hopkins writes, “Immigration is a controversial topic these days, but let’s break it down to the human level. Specifically, I’d like to talk about refugees, who are the most vetted group of displaced people allowed into the U.S. with a clear legal pathway to citizenship. Refugees, half of whom are children, have been forced to flee their home country because of persecution, war or violence. Their lives are at risk, and they have nowhere else to turn.” Hopkins continues to share a story of an Ahmad, who worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan “Our values are unwavering. We know that assisting families like Ahmad’s and the 21 others in our care is the right thing to do. JFS will continue to meet the moment in partnership with the community.”

Associated Press

January 26, 2025

Arrests for illegal border crossings plummeted more than 80% to about 47,000 in December from an all-time high of 250,000 the same period a year earlier. Arrests fell by about half when Mexican authorities increased enforcement within their own borders a year ago and by about half again when former President Joe Biden introduced severe asylum restrictions in June. The Associated Press joined the Border Patrol for six hours Thursday in San Diego, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings much of the last year, and found no migrants until the last half-hour. Jewish Family Service of San Diego said Friday its shelter had not received any migrants since the Trump administration ended use of the online border app, CBP One, for migrants to legally enter. It served 791 people the week before Trump took office.

Fox KTVU

January 22, 2025

A resource guide to defend your basic rights.

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.