Murrieta to see 140 undocumented immigrants

MURRIETA, Calif. (KABC) -- About 140 undocumented immigrants will arrive at the border patrol station in Murrieta on Tuesday. Many residents are very angry that so many undocumented immigrants are being processed at the city's facility, and could soon be released.

"We can't even raise own kids and get jobs, how are we going to raise theirs?" said resident Bill Eckberg.

The city says that same number of immigrants could be brought in every three days for the next several weeks. A union leader with the border patrol says those numbers are unprecedented.

The problem stems from the massive number of people crossing the border illegally in Texas right now. Many of them are children. Because of that, officials with border patrol say they're overwhelmed. Consequently, many of them will have to be processed elsewhere, including in Murrieta.

Many are wondering what will happen after they're processed.

"From what I understand, most of the immigrants coming to our location have family members or friends throughout the United States," said Murrieta Mayor Alan Long.

It is unclear what will happen to those who don't have friends and family to help them.

"Your guess is as good as mine," said Gabriel Pacheco, union leader for the National Border Patrol Council. "What would you do if you can't hold them in custody for that, so if you're going to release them on their own recognizance, that means they promise to come back for a court date, and then, who knows."

There's no shortage of people in Murrieta blaming the federal government for allowing this to happen.

"This is a result of the failure of federal law at the federal level, the lack of enforcement," said Long.

"We feel that our government has failed us, they say we have broken immigration laws, and we don't, we just have people who don't want to enforce the current laws we that have," said Eckberg.

Border Patrol and ICE released a statement on the issue Monday:

"When immigrants are finished here, appropriate custody determinations will be made on a case-by-case basis, prioritizing national security and public safety."

A town hall meeting will be held at Murrieta Vista High School at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.