Border Patrol released hundreds of illegal migrants into the streets of San Diego, and some were given court dates on the other side of the country in places they had never heard of before.
The released illegal migrants hailed from all over the world, including Senegal, China, Ecuador, Rwanda, the Dominican Republic, Mauritania, India, and Kazakhstan. They were released because Customs and Border Protection had no places to detain them until they could have their cases heard in immigration court. Local nonprofits, which have been given millions from the San Diego government to shelter the illegal migrants, did not have the infrastructure to handle the influx.
On Friday, The Associated Press spoke with several who appeared to be unfamiliar with where they were or where they were told to show up in court.
One 31-year-old man from Kazakhstan told the outlet that he was told to show up in immigration court in Philadelphia in August 2025, but that he didn’t know where that was because he had never heard of it. Philadelphia is about 2,700 miles away from San Diego.
A Mauritanian man told the outlet that he took a flight from Africa to Nicaragua before flying to Mexico and crossing into the United States. Another man from the Dominican Republic asked, “Are we in San Diego?” and was told to head to Boston in June for an immigration court hearing in June. Boston is nearly 3,000 miles away from San Diego.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin posted video on Friday showing Chinese nationals being released in San Diego.
“More Chinese nationals amongst the latest busload of migrants that was just released to the street in San Diego moments ago. We’ve seen dozens of Chinese released here today. More than 21,000 Chinese have been apprehended by Border Patrol in just San Diego sector since Oct. 1st,” he said.
More Chinese nationals amongst the latest busload of migrants that was just released to the street in San Diego moments ago. We’ve seen dozens of Chinese released here today. More than 21,000 Chinese have been apprehended by Border Patrol in just San Diego sector since Oct. 1st: pic.twitter.com/ifAgxs4TtY
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) February 23, 2024
On Saturday morning, Melugin posted more footage of illegal immigrants who had been detained in the San Diego sector being released into San Ysidro. San Diego is just one of the cities that has been impacted by the border crisis as millions of illegal immigrants have crossed into the United States under President Joe Biden.
NEW: Mass street releases of migrants who crossed the San Diego sector border illegally are continuing this morning here in San Ysidro, CA. Multiple Border Patrol buses have already arrived. People from all around the world – all planning to travel to cities across the U.S. pic.twitter.com/IyrwjEciY3
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) February 24, 2024
CBP said that the releases showed “the latest example of the pressing need for Congress to provide additional resources and take legislative action to fix our outdated immigration laws.”
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The release occurred after an illegal alien was arrested for the murder of a 22-year-old college student in Georgia. The suspect, 26-year-old Venezuelan Jose Antonio Ibarra, had reportedly been released into the United States after crossing illegally into El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 before being released due to lack of detention space
Ibarra was arrested on Friday for the murder of Laken Hope Riley, a nursing student from the University of Georgia who was found dead after going out on a run on Thursday.
