XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: hang.the.kenyan@barackobama.com   
      
   As elected leaders and community service groups across Southern   
   California braced themselves for the impact of having hundreds   
   of immigrant families taken here, protesters in Murrieta blocked   
   part of the first wave of families set to arrive Tuesday.   
      
   The first wave — totaling about 300 people — was set to arrive   
   there and in El Centro Tuesday.   
      
   Additional flights will arrive every three days as the U.S.   
   Customs and Border Patrol tries to address the overcrowded   
   facilities in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, which has seen an   
   unprecedented spike in illegal crossings since October.   
      
   Here's the latest:   
      
   3:21 p.m.: Union representative Ron Zermeno tells The Desert Sun   
   that the Murrieta Border Patrol station will not resume normal   
   operations but instead send its entire staff to the San Diego   
   area to help with the processing of the re-routed immigrant   
   families.   
      
   "It's just a matter of time," he said.   
      
   3:09 p.m.: With the protest too much in Murrieta, Border Patrol   
   union representatives confirm the buses are heading to a San   
   Diego County processing center.   
      
   2:55 p.m.: The crowd of protesters in Murrieta blocked buses   
   from entering the Border Patrol station. Officials did not   
   immediately say where they were going to be detoured.   
      
   2:38 p.m.: Imperial County officials have confirmed that the   
   Border Patrol will not bring migrant families to El Centro until   
   Wednesday. Border Patrol and ICE have assured the county that   
   the transfer will not become a drain on local resources.   
      
   2:25 p.m.: Here are more photos from the scene, courtesy of   
   Richard Lui:   
      
   2:20 p.m.: Some of the protesters are sitting in front of the   
   buses as they try to enter the Murrieta center.   
      
   2:07 p.m.: The buses carrying migrant families from Texas have   
   arrived in Murrieta.   
      
   The buses took a detour rather than enter the Border Patrol   
   station's front entrance, where about 100 people are gathered.   
      
   A Department of Homeland Security official in California told   
   The Associated Press that a chartered plane landed in San Diego   
   after 12 p.m. with 136 migrants on board. The official was not   
   authorized to be named when speaking on the issue.   
      
   Murrieta city officials are planning a 5 p.m. announcement in   
   front of City Hall.   
      
   -- Ricardo Cano   
      
   1:37 p.m.: After the families are processed inside the Border   
   Patrol station in Murrieta Border, they will be taken by vans to   
   bus stops across the region and dropped off, three different   
   Border Patrol union representatives have told The Desert Sun.   
      
   Christopher Harris, vice president of National Border Patrol   
   Council's Local 1613, said it is part of the usual protocol by   
   the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.   
      
   Gabe Pacheco, an agent and representative with the Border Patrol   
   union, called the whole process "de facto amnesty."   
      
   The agents are expected to take the immigrant families to   
   stations in Menifee, San Bernardino and Perris. No one has   
   mentioned locations inside the Coachella Valley.   
      
   The bus taking immigrant families to Murrieta for processing has   
   been delayed, but it is expected within the hour.   
      
   If immigrants are taken to bus stops, it would mirror what   
   happened in May when immigrants from the Rio Grande Valley were   
   taken to Tuscon.   
      
   The families ended up at Greyhound bus stations in Phoenix and   
   Tuscon, according to reports from the Arizona Republic.   
      
   1:30 p.m.: San Diego-based Border Angels, a nonprofit that aims   
   to bring relief to day labored and immigrants, is working with   
   local San Diego officials to establish housing sites for   
   displaced immigrants who have no family.   
      
   "I agree with what president Obama said recently about this   
   being a humanitarian crisis, and If we this is a humanitarian   
   crisis, then we need a humanitarian solution," said Enrique   
   Morones, president and founder of Border Angels, said outside of   
   the Menifee station.   
      
   Just sending back children and deporting immigrants, "that is   
   not a humanitarian solution," he said.   
      
   "If these children were Canadian, we would not be having this   
   interview right now," he added.   
      
   12:54 p.m.: Unlike heated exchanges that is occurring in the   
   crowd outside of the Murrieta station, the El Centro Border   
   Patrol Station on West Aten Road remained quiet on Tuesday   
   afternoon.   
      
   There were no protesters or organizers in sight.   
      
   Miguel Garcia, spokesman for the El Centro Border Patrol Sector,   
   declined to comment on the issue and deferred all questions to   
   the U.S. Customs and Border Protection public affairs office in   
   El Centro.   
      
   The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters,   
   located just two miles away from the Border Patrol station, was   
   also quiet and officials declined to comment.   
      
   Immigrant families are expected to be flown from Texas to Yuma,   
   and taken by bus to El Centro. Officials have not said when the   
   bus might arrive.   
      
   -- Tatiana Sanchez   
      
   12:07 p.m.: Here are some of the images from Murrieta, courtesy   
   of Desert Sun photographer Richard Lui:   
      
   11:26 a.m.: Ron Zermeno -- the union representative for the   
   Border Patrol agents in Murrieta and serves as the station's   
   health director – told The Desert Sun that he has serious   
   concerns about whether the station can handle even the first   
   wave of families.   
      
   The station, he said, has no dining or dorm facilities to   
   accommodate anyone detained for a long period of time. Instead,   
   Zermeno said the immigrants – mostly women and children -- will   
   be fed three meals a day in their cells.   
      
   "It's chaos. It's going to be a mess," he added.   
      
   The Murrieta station normally focuses on prosecuting drug-   
   related crimes, such as smuggling.   
      
   To handle the transfer from Texas – and process everyone within   
   72 hours -- Zermeno said routine operations are essentially   
   being suspended. All available resources, including the patrol   
   dogs, are being reassigned to this effort.   
      
   Zermeno declined to detail the staffing levels at the station   
   out of security concerns. But he said he requested more staff,   
   and got only five more supervisors.   
      
   "What does that say about the situation?" he said.   
      
   -- Ricardo Cano   
      
   11:15 a.m.: About 15 protesters are now outside of the Murrieta   
   station.   
      
   "We can't start taking care of others if we can't take care of   
   our own," said Nancy Greyson, a 60-year-old from Murrieta.   
      
   A crowd had gathered there Monday as well, some staying as late   
   as 1 a.m. Tuesday.   
      
   11:10 a.m.: The Desert Sun has learned the the flight from Texas   
   to San Diego has been delayed.   
      
   Families won't arrive in Murrieta until 12:30 p.m.   
      
   10:43 a.m.: About 140 migrant adults and children will arrive in   
   San Diego around 11 a.m. and then taken by bus to the Border   
   Patrol station in Murrieta.   
      
   About 10 protesters already are out there, voicing their   
   opposition to the federal government's plan.   
      
   10:05 a.m.: Murrieta Mayor Alan Long is encouraging the city's   
   107,000 residents to call elected leaders and voice opposition   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)