Traditionally, Escondido has held an annual winter shelter aimed at serving underaged illegal immigrants without a present guardian. However, this year, the shelter was rejected in a 4-1 vote by the Escondido City Council and a 7-0 vote by the Escondido Planning Commision.

The original plan was to have Southwest Key, an inter-state non-profit organization, operate the shelter. They hoped to use the nursing home on Avenida Del Diablo, formerly run by Palomar Pomerado Health Services, as a facility supporting 96 undocumented immigrant migrants between the ages of 6-17.

However, the plan was rejected on fears that having the shelter would cause safety, traffic and parking problems. There were also additional concerns that hosting a shelter would be inappropriate within a residential neighborhood.

Councilwoman and potential mayor Olga Diaz was the lone supporter of the shelter on the Escondido Council. Diaz said, “I may lose an election, but I will not lose my humanity.” She is running against current mayor Sam Abed, who does not support the shelter. Abed thinks it will become something akin to a juvenile jail. He said, “You cannot compare a skilled nursing facility and a detention facility and say they are the same thing—big difference.”

At the hearing, people voiced their views vocally and in mass. Police were present in the event that the crowd became too rowdy. There were no physical altercations. However, there were many sharp verbal exchanges. Luis Ramiro, a 22-year-old veteran Marine, said, “If you don’t pass this thing, Escondido is going to continue being the armpit of the immigration of the west coast.” On the other hand, Ly Lykou, who came to the country from Asia thirty years ago, said, “”We did it the right way. We waited in line. We had our lungs X-rayed. If they want to do it the right way, let’s do that, but I feel like this is being forced on us.”

Junior Zoe Vernier, a documented, naturalized American citizen, said, “I agree with [the rejection] and I think there are other ways we can help [the children]. [They are] not following the law and then they are getting rewarded for breaking the law. I feel like of course we should have a shelter for [the children] but they should work on becoming legal citizens and contribute to the system that is helping them.”

Senior Jared Thornburg said, “I am all for the U.S. government helping children that are not as fortunate as we are, but I feel like we should be helping people and children in our own country first. As well, there is the potential for gang members and thieves. It is just better to [forbid the shelter] because we have a large crime rate and it would be better to watch it more closely. I also feel like accepting the proposition of having the shelter would be accepting the immigration problem instead of confronting it because our immigration system is not that good today.”

“Even though they are illegal immigrants, they are coming from a place they are trying to run away from; they are trying to get to a safer place. THey don’t have any adults to look up to, so I think they should have a place they could go for help,” said junior Sasha Doval.

This shelter has been a major source of controversy. The rejection of the shelter has once again, muddled the waters of immigration policy.

Sources: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-migrant-shelter-rejected-20141016-story.html; http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/oct/14/escondido-city-council-hear-appeal-migrant-youth-s/; http://fox5sandiego.com/2014/06/24/potential-housing-facility-for-immigrant-children-questioned/; http://www.10news.com/news/proposed-facility-in-escondido-for-undocumented-youth-denied-06242014; http://www.swkey.org/about/overview/;