© Provided by Washington Examiner SAN DIEGO - Immediately after the Washington Examiner reported that San Diego County was soliciting farmers for land for a migrant tent city, red-faced officials called the offer a mistake and told recipients to "please disregard" it.
The county officials blamed the state of California and said the term "tent city" was mistakenly used to describe "a soft structure build out" to house a COVID testing center.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY WANTS TO BUILD MIGRANT TENT CITY ON PRIVATE FARMLANDS
Local activist Carl DeMaio said he suspects the county backpedaled after realizing that the news coverage would be a public relations nightmare.
"Both sides are pointing fingers at each other, saying it was never meant to be a tent city," said DeMaio, who released the initial email to the press. "I don't believe them because a COVID site in the middle of farmland is not practical."
"We caught them in time before they could do this," he added. "I don't think this is over by a long shot, they will continue to find ways to house more illegal immigrants."
The first email, sent by the San Diego County Department of Agriculture to about 100 local farmers and ranchers, asked for volunteers to provide long-term "ag land" rentals "to build a tent city in the county for the immigrants coming across the border. The State plans to provide wrap-around services as well."
The county already houses 1,450 children in the San Diego Convention Center, the nation's first municipality to offer shelter for migrants in Texas to alleviate the border crisis. If this latest proposal had gone through, it would likely become the first large-scale, private property immigrant processing center.
The second email, sent to the same group, said, "Open land was never envisioned or intended to be used as temporary living space. In summary, the State has advised the County they are no longer pursuing a search for agricultural or open land."
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County Supervisor Jim Desmond, a Republican, said he was never informed about the tent city plan in the first place.
"While the State has backtracked on putting up a 'Tent City,' the fact still remains that hundreds of undocumented immigrants are coming into San Diego County, untested for COVID-19," he said.
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Spokespersons from San Diego County and the state of California declined to elaborate, referring the Washington Examiner to the second email sent out to landowners.
Tags: News, San Diego, Migrants, California
Original Author: Tori Richards
Original Location: San Diego pulls migrant tent city plan after media coverage and calls it a mistake