Law enforcement officials have denied suggestions that migrants who recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border tried to forcefully board a school bus in a remote area of San Diego earlier this week.
National media reported two brief encounters between a school bus and individuals not affiliated with a school as a possible threat to students, but after an investigation officials determined there was no cause for alarm.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, a Jamul-Dulzura Unified School District bus driver reported seeing groups of people along Highway 94 in the eastern part of the county, about 11 miles from the border.
In a letter to parents Wednesday, Superintendent Liz Bystedt wrote that people not affiliated with the school district attempted to stop or board a school bus at a stop.
But on Thursday, the San Diego County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that no crime was committed because “deputies determined that no one attempted to stop or forcefully enter the school buses.”
Fox 5 San Diego news station was the first to report that the individuals were immigrants, although law enforcement officials have not confirmed if that was the case.
The first incident occurred Tuesday afternoon, the station reported, when three men walking in the middle of the road tried to stop one of the buses, forcing the driver to go around them.
On Wednesday morning, a school bus driver reported seeing a group of about 20 people at a regular stop for students, school district officials told the station. Parents were also present at the bus stop as students were loading, the school district told Fox 5.
The group included some who were not related to the students and school officials said they tried to board the bus, but the Sheriff's Office said they did not try to force their way inside as has been described in separate news reports.
The school district reported both cases to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the San Diego County Sheriff's Office and the California Highway Patrol, according to Bystedt's letter to parents.
The CHP referred all questions to the sheriff's office and the Border Patrol did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The sheriff's office said deputies investigated the matter and found no wrongdoing. In response to the incidents, deputies conducted additional patrols along the remote bus route this week to ensure the route was safe.
“The Sheriff’s Office recognizes the community’s concern and has been working alongside the Jamul-Dulzura Unified School District to provide peace of mind to families affected by these events,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
It is unclear whether the group of people who approached the school buses thought they were affiliated with an immigrant advocacy group, but law enforcement officials and immigrant advocacy groups suggest that was a possibility.
“It is not uncommon for community volunteers and charitable organizations to provide resources in these parts of the county, some of which operate vehicles similar to school buses,” the sheriff's office said in a statement.
Pedro Rios, director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Program at the American Friends Service Committee, said volunteer organizations typically do not provide transportation to migrants because of the potential charges they may face. These volunteers typically provide water and, if there is an emergency, contact authorities.
What exactly happened this week remains unclear, according to Ríos.
“It is stated that the individuals were likely migrants who had just crossed into the United States, and that is likely the case,” Rios said Friday. “They likely saw the school bus and associated it as a means of transportation to get to a much more organized center.”
Nicole Cardinale said her son, Apollo, attends the district's elementary school and was on the bus Wednesday morning. She said her son told her he saw a group of adults with backpacks trying to get on his bus.
“It's scary for these kids to be in this situation,” Cardinale told Fox 5.
The school district has instructed its drivers to drive past bus stops if they see people nearby. If that happens, parents are instructed to follow the bus to the next stop to pick up their children, according to an email sent to parents.
Rios said she understands parents' concerns about the situation and believes this is a teachable moment.
Driving past a person at a bus stop who matches a certain description “promotes the same type of fear, rather than promoting understanding of what the context is and what’s actually going on,” she said. “That concerns me, because what if it’s just a person of color standing at the school bus stop, or what if it’s a parent who’s mistaken for one of these individuals?”
The school district plans to hold a community meeting on Saturday to address the issue.
