JACUMBA, Calif. — Volunteers have built makeshift shelters, out of pallets covered in tarps, around Jacumba Hot Springs to help protect migrants from the elements as they wait outdoors to get processed through indoor detention facilities. But the volunteers believe the federal government and local vandals keep tearing them down.
“A lot of people like to assume everyone coming through is single men. That’s definitely not the case. I would say between 30-40% of the migrants I see are women and children,” said John Schultz, one of the volunteers who lives in Jacumba Hot Springs and builds these shelters with other volunteers.
“The wind howls through there," Schultz said. "It’s one of the windiest places in the county, and its always considerably colder."
Schultz believes the federal government hired AIS as a demolition crew to tear down the shelters. Many are on private property.
CBS8 spoke with one private property owner who said he wants the shelters on his property and does not appreciate anyone coming on his land to tear them down. But each time they get destroyed, Schultz and other volunteers rebuild them.
They’re trying to be kind and helpful to the migrants who find themselves in Jacumba Hot Springs.
“They're in very bad shape. A lot of them tell me they haven't eaten for days. They haven't had water. A lot of them have been robbed while they're in Mexico. I've met many migrants that have everything they own taken away from them, including their passports,” said Schultz.
Once they surrender to border patrol, agents keep them outside, essentially in open air detention, until they can be processed at an indoor detention facility.
“It's unofficial. The border patrol will not recognize that they're being detained. They claim they are free to go whenever they want to, but if anyone tries to leave, the border patrol would apprehend them and return them to there," said Schultz.
Shultz caught the professional demo crew destroying the makeshift shelters at the end of February. He said two days later, a group of young men and one who told him he was a minor destroyed the shelters a second time.
“They also knocked over some porta potties that were subcontracted by the border patrol as well as a potable water tank that was also subcontracted by border patrol," Shultz said.
Subcontracted means taxpayer dollars paid for that.
Shultz said he called 911 and was told a deputy would call him back, but no one ever did. CBS8 reached out to Customs and Border Protection and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department about this.
CBP has not responded.
The Sheriff's Department shared the following statement with CBS 8 on Tuesday:
"The Sheriff's Department is actively investigating this situation. We are in the process of trying to find the victim in this situation. Many of the initial reports of the incident were reported in Imperial County which has taken time to get the correct information back over to our department to continue with the investigation.
The Sheriff's Department actively patrols the area where this incident occurred. We respond to all calls for service and enforce state related crimes in this area. The Sheriff's Department is encouraging anyone with additional information to contact us."
The shelters, the porta potties and the water tank are all back up.
Shultz said they’ll keep rebuilding them if they have to because he can’t leave migrants out in the elements to find for themselves. Not in his hometown.
“Whether you agree with them coming in or not, I don't think anyone can agree it's a good idea to put them through all of this," he said.
WATCH RELATED: Hundreds of migrants in Jacumba searching for answers (May 13, 2023)