Submitted by Jim DeBello
Border cities like San Diego should not have to bear the burden of a national disgrace. Housing undocumented migrant children at the San Diego Convention Center is wrong. This is a federal problem and a misappropriation of city/county funds led by the same City Hall insiders who promised to end homelessness.
Meanwhile, our streets teem with homeless Americans who were recently booted out of the Convention Center. We all see the tents, year after year. When does it end? Our city can’t even handle the homeless problem, much less absorb 2,000 (and counting) undocumented minors. Does civic “leadership” have any administrative priorities? Our border is being gamed yet again and children exploited. What five-year-old or mid-teen treks “unaccompanied” from Honduras? Biden’s Borders are Broken; through ill-considered words and lack of action he has created his own humanitarian crisis, aided and abetted by our well-meaning but naïve local politicians.
Let’s treat these children with dignity, and quickly reunite them with their families in the only place that makes sense–back home, in their own countries. This is not a question of asylum. It is the ugly face of exploitation. We are failed again by our political class.
Jim DeBello
March 29, 2021
Editor’s Note: After publication of this Letter to the Editor, The Coronado Times was contacted by the City of San Diego that this homelessness opinion piece has inaccurate claims, and stating:
- The homeless individuals were not kicked out of the Convention Center and onto the streets. Every individual was provided safe transfer to another shelter location.
- City of San Diego funds are not being used for the migrant shelter.
