JACUMBA HOT SPRINGS, Calif. — In the Jacumba Hot Springs area, a growing number of migrants seeking asylum in the United States are coming through holes in the border wall.
Border Patrol has set up staging areas for them in large dirt lots to wait for buses that will take them to processing centers.
That wait can take days.
In the meantime, migrants huddle around small fires, play games with their kids, and wonder what's next. The lucky ones get real tents that were discarded after the Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk. Others make do with blankets and tarps.
“The number of migrants in the open air detention sites is growing daily,” said Sam Schultz.
He noticed the situation out there, about 80 miles east of San Diego, started going from bad to worse around 10 weeks ago. The groups are getting bigger, overwhelming the process.
“It's very difficult to tell exact numbers of immigrants that are coming across the border,” Schultz said. “I can tell you that in the last 10 weeks, we have fed 13,000 people.”
Schultz, who has spent decades helping those less fortunate, took it upon himself to feed the migrants. Without this assistance, they could go days without food.
He now has several volunteers helping him and non-profits donating rice and other items that he cooks up and distributes.
While visiting one staging area Monday afternoon, CBS 8 met people from several countries, including Brazil, Georgia, and China.
Some of them say they've been here for five nights in the freezing cold and they're frustrated because they see border patrol taking away some people, but not others.
They don't understand the process and they’re not sure how many more nights they're going to be spending out there.
Border Patrol agents in the field told CBS 8 that they've seen families with babies that are just weeks old. They try to get them help here first, but otherwise, it's out of their hands. They're simply told to line up groups as space in processing facilities becomes available.
Sometimes that’s only men. Sometimes only women. Sometimes just families. But they never take everyone, leaving hundreds outside every night to fight for their survival.
“If the weather gets down below 30 degrees and 35 degrees during the day, 20 degrees at night... some people are going to die,” Schultz said. “I'm sorry to say that, but it's just going to happen.”
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