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“My great hope is that President Biden will issue an executive order: stop the deportation of any honorably discharged member of the American military. Fletcher often visited Tijuana to meet with people at the Deported Veterans Support House, called “the bunker.” As a Marine Corps Veteran himself, Fletcher cares deeply about the issue of deported veterans. While the center successfully created a space of welcome for asylum-seeking families, deep challenges still remain along the border. “That’s what is supposed to happen when you have people in need, your government works together with your faith community, works together with your nonprofit community, and everyone shoulders their share of the load,” said Fletcher. Families spent only a night or two at the shelter before traveling to join family. When Refugees International visited the shelter in the spring of 2019, children played in an outdoor area while parents got help with transportation arrangements. Where law books once were in the old court house, there were diapers and hygiene kits for arriving families. The County of San Diego staffed the shelter with help from the Health and Human Services Agency to conduct health screenings for new arrivals. At the center, operated by Jewish Family Service San Diego, each family was also provided beds, warm food, fresh clothes, and an orientation.
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“We stood it up quickly and tens of thousands of individuals were just shown a basic level of dignity and being able to be connected with their family sponsors and treated humanely,” said Fletcher. On January 29, 2019, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted to lease the space to be a shelter. “And I have got to go out and make the case for it…why I thought this was consistent with our values and what we needed to do.”įletcher’s efforts paid off. “If I’m the one who thinks it’s such a good idea then I need to place it in the communities I represent,” Fletcher told Refugees international. The Center was in the heart of his district, which stretches from the Pacific Ocean to Encanto, Paradise Hills and north towards the UC San Diego Campus. Fletcher also engaged his own constituents. He also won the backing of the District Attorney and Sherriff by arguing that having the shelter would mean both asylum seeking families and the city would be safer. Fletcher focused on bipartisan engagement and worked closely with Supervisor Greg Cox. To pass the proposed measure through the traditionally conservative Board of Supervisors, he needed at least three votes on the five-seat board. “I wanted it to be a place of love and compassion,” Fletcher said. The plan was for a center to welcome families and provide public health and community services. “I immediately got to work,” Fletcher said. “On my very first day as a supervisor, we heard the idea to actually take a County facility, an old family courthouse that was slated for demolition” and create a reception center for asylum seekers. “The advocates and the allies…looked to the County,” Fletcher said. The San Diego Rapid Response Network, a coalition of human rights and service organizations, attorneys, and community leaders, stepped in to help by creating temporary emergency shelters in churches. Further, DHS often gave these asylum seekers unclear paperwork about where and when they were supposed to go to immigration court, adding further confusion.Īs Fletcher took office, DHS was stranding asylum-seeking families in downtown San Diego with no information or resources. But beginning in late 2018, DHS began instead to release people directly to bus stations-and in some cases city streets-at all hours and sometimes without notice to local officials and organizations. Previously, DHS officials assisted asylum seekers who had recently crossed the border with the coordination of their travel plans to sponsors and relatives across the country. Since then, support for welcoming policies towards those seeking protection at the border has only grown in San Diego.įletcher was elected to the Board of Supervisors just after the Department of Homeland Security ended the “safe release” program. Two years ago, he also was a driving force behind the creation of a shelter for asylum seekers in his district. Nathan Fletcher is chair of the San Diego Country Board of Supervisors, a Marine Corps veteran, and a father of five.