Federal officials have not informed the police department of Murrieta, Calif., about whether or when exactly more buses transporting illegal immigrants will arrive in the city. At the same time, federal authorities are counting on local police to ensure safe passage for illegal immigrants being transported to the Border Patrol station in the city, where there have been protests over the transfers in recent days.
Murrieta Police Department public-information officer Lieutenant Jon Flavin says Border Patrol and Immigration Customs Enforcement officers have not provided these details to Murrieta police due to “operational security concerns.” But Flavin says he expects buses to arrive every 72 hours –meaning the latest group of buses will arrive sometime later today — and extra police officers will be in the area to keep the peace for most of the day. Some reports have suggested that federal officials will be arriving in riot gear at the protests.
Flavin says he anticipates up to 500 protesters will arrive on Monday morning in response to the possibility that more buses will arrive in Murrieta. And it’s not just Southern Californians coming to protest the arrival of the illegal immigrants — Flavin says he received a phone call from someone from Georgia explaining that he was coming to protest the transportation of illegal immigrants.
“We do have an influx of people that are coming from out of our city,” he says. “It’s not just the citizens of Murrieta that are arriving.” Flavin says he expects some of the protestors will stay until 2 or 3 a.m. tonight before leaving the area.