Chris is Chief of Staff and Kate is Senior Director of Immigration Services at Jewish Family Service. JFS operates the Rapid Response Shelter for asylum seekers who cross the border from Tijuana; other organizations and state and county funding support it as well. Currently, they have about 1,300 people per week being screened and assisted to reach their final destination with a sponsor. The shelter is part of the Rapid Response Network which assists people who have encounters with ICE. In addition, Erin Tsurumoto Grassi, Policy Director for Alliance San Diego, wants to update us on the TRUTH Act Forum on November 15th. The bill in the legislature to tighten the TRUTH Act did not pass; it is designed to prevent law enforcement from communicating with ICE about people in their custody.
Last month, we heard very personal stories from Tania Mendoza about people at the Border Church at Friendship Park who have been separated for years from their immediate family members and their struggle to keep hopeful. Those personal stories are really gripping.
Regarding replacing the border fence at Friendship Park, Border Patrol did a survey of stakeholders which ended September 30. Friends of Friendship Park have met with Border Patrol and put together a design team to outline what they would like to see in the park, which Border Patrol says they will have to finance outside of the wall. They did learn that the concern by the Border Patrol is the safety of the agents and the people in the park because the top pieces of the fence have corroded some and need to be replaced as well as a portion of the secondary fence. Thus, Friends of Friendship Park is asking that they cancel the contract that was written before the pandemic and just do what is necessary rather than replace the two fences with two walls made of 30 foot bollards with very little vision through them.