San Diego Shelter Housing Asylum-Seekers Suffers Flu Outbreak

SAN DIEGO -- A flu outbreak has occurred at a local immigrant shelter that's housing asylum seekers flown from Texas to San Diego by federal immigration authorities.

According to San Diego County Deputy Public Health officer Dean Sidelinger, the county has identified 16 people at the shelter who have an ``influenza-like illness.'' County health officials have quarantined and begun treating those affected.

The patients are currently being housed at a shelter in Bankers Hill operated by the San Diego Rapid Response Network, a coalition of human-rights, service and faith-based organizations such as Jewish Family Service of San Diego. The county Board of Supervisors voted in January to authorize the SDRRN to use the former courthouse as a temporary shelter.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security began flying detained asylum-seeking immigrants from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas to San Diego on May 17.

Immigration authorities are operating 10 jets between San Diego and Texas with roughly 130 people aboard per flight. Many of the detainees are families that have claimed asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border and are being sent to San Diego County for processing.

Federal immigration authorities announced the plan last week to fly asylum-seeking immigrants to San Diego due to an unprecedented immigration crush in the Rio Grande Valley. Customs and Border Protection agents have detained an average of 4,500 migrants each day this year, and Customs says it's now holding roughly 8,000 people in the Rio Grande Valley, double the agency's capacity in the area.

Local CBP agents process detained asylum seekers within 72 hours, and then they're usually released into the county with an ankle monitor to ensure they attend the hearing for their asylum claim.

City News Service contributed to this report.