SAN DIEGO — The U.S. Border Patrol dropped off 200 asylum seekers at El Cajon, Oceanside and City of San Diego transit centers on Friday afternoon.
CBS 8 went to the transit center in El Cajon at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and saw dozens of people standing outside in an empty parking lot.
Border Patrol told CBS 8 they were dropping off 89 men, women and children in El Cajon.
CBS 8 met one mother from Colombia with five children. She says they flew from Colombia to Mexico, then waited in line at the border and walked through the normal crossing line and when they got through, they asked for asylum.
She says they went to different facilities and Friday afternoon, Border Patrol agents loaded them into vans, brought them to the El Cajon facility, and dropped them off. She says they told them to get their bags and they’re on their own.
When we met her she said she was very worried because she was in a place where she doesn’t know anything or anyone. She has five kids and with no one around her that she knows, she said she's scared, worried and nervous.
At the El Cajon transit center, we met people from Colombia, Nicaragua, Ukraine, and China.
Many were trying unsuccessfully to use their phone or call an Uber.
Omar Vargas was in the parking lot talking to people, helping translate Spanish to English. He works across the street from the transit center and saw the border patrol vans.
“It’s a good thing they were let go, it’s not the right thing to do, to let them off in an area that’s not always the safest at nighttime. There’s no signal here. All their phones are from other countries and they don’t have service here and there’s no WiFi," Vargas said.
But such is the plight of asylum seekers. The Supreme Court could lift Title 42 as early as Dec. 27, the pandemic-era border policy that prevented millions of migrants from coming to the United States to seek asylum.
County Supervisor Jim Desmond says the federal government should provide resources to help these asylum seekers when they come into the US.
“The Federal Government should be providing the money or some sort of dollars or some sort of relief or resources instead of just saying we can’t handle the anymore. We’re going to give them to you San Diego County, see you later," Desmond said.
The San Diego Rapid Response Network typically helps asylum seekers that get dropped off, but even they are at their limit. This week they sent out a news release that reads in part: “Our resources and the current infrastructure have been stretched to capacity.”
Desmond says, “We don't have any spaces. Our shelters are full. Our hotels are full.”
As Christmas approaches, the mother from Colombia and others like her will navigate a new country on their own, and thankful they can get a ride and take their next step toward what they hope will be their new life.
WATCH RELATED: San Diego braces for influx of migrants after dissolution of Title 42 (Dec. 2022).