The Biden administration is allocating $45 million to California programs that help migrants who have crossed the southern border.
The money is part of a $300 million national effort announced Friday by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Most of the California funds will be divided between San Diego County and the Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego. More than $6 million goes to Riverside County.
An additional $341 million will be used to establish a competitive grant program and will be allocated before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, the administration said.
That's less funding than expected for programs that help immigrants, representing an 18% cut from last year's total of $780 million.
But California's overall share is $3 million more than last year; San Diego's allocation increased by $10 million.
Border nonprofit organizations, including Jewish Family Service of San Diego, hail the increase as a victory that reflects the recent increase in migrant arrivals near the California border.
In an announcement Friday, the Department of Homeland Security called on Congress to pass a stalled bipartisan homeland security bill that included more border funding and other assistance.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the administration and blamed House Republicans for not providing enough money to address the crisis.
“Let's be clear: President Biden is doing everything he can to fund border security and humanitarian efforts, while Republicans in Congress choose border chaos for political gain,” Newsom said in a statement.
Republicans blame Biden for mishandling the border and argue that FEMA resources should be spent on American families struggling with homelessness, not arriving migrants.
Inland states, including Illinois, Colorado and New York, also received funding. Leaders in Texas, Florida and Arizona have spent millions transporting migrants to Democratic strongholds since 2022 in an effort to force places with more welcoming immigration policies to share the responsibility of caring for the new arrivals.
California has funded humanitarian services for migrants released from federal custody at the border, including $150 million last year. But with the state facing a huge deficit, no border funding has been budgeted this year.
“California cannot sustain its efforts without federal support and has continued to advocate for Congress to provide federal funding to local communities welcoming new arrivals,” California Health and Human Services Agency officials wrote in their January budget summary. .
Jewish Family Service has operated a shelter for newly arrived immigrants for almost six years. The vast majority of immigrants who arrive near San Diego don't stay for long, said Kate Clark, director of immigration services for the organization. The shelter has space for about 1,000 people and offers the most vulnerable migrants (those with young children, sick or injured, or LGBTQ) time to rest, charge their phones, call loved ones and coordinate travel plans.
Clark said the organization relies heavily on funds channeled through Catholic Charities.
State funding, which has served as “critical support during periods of uncertainty” about federal funding, ends June 30, Clark said. Overall, funding has not been enough to sustain recent migration levels, she said.
In March, federal agents arrested nearly 34,000 immigrants in the San Diego region, up from 23,000 a year ago, according to Customs and Border Protection figures released Friday. San Diego remains the second region in arrivals, after Tucson, since increased law enforcement by the Mexican government led migrants away from the Texas border.
As migrant arrivals at the California-Mexico border have increased, Customs and Border Protection has turned to street releases and holding migrants behind border walls to reduce the number of people in its facilities. Short-term. Organizations on the border have been stretched thin, and the San Diego immigrant welcome center closed in February after funding ran out.
“It's important to us that all levels of government be part of the solution,” Clark said. “Immigration is within the purview of the federal government, but at the end of the day California is a border state.”
