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Migrants Seeking Asylum In San Diego Often Experiencing Homelessness

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Albany Hernandez tries to cool off under the shade on a sunny July day. The asylum seeker from Venezuela is one of dozens of migrants living in a homeless encampment. She is on a waitlist for housing but feels unsafe sleeping outside. July 3, 2024. (Matthew Bowler/KPBS)

Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, July 17, 2024…

  • For most migrants and asylum seekers, San Diego is not a final destination. It’s a layover. But more migrants are choosing to stay in San Diego. And in many cases, they’re becoming homeless.
  • California will have to build public charging stations at an unprecedented — and some experts say unrealistic — pace to meet the needs of the millions more electric cars expected on its roads in the next decade.

Migrants And Asylum Seekers Living In San Diego’s Homeless Encampments

Customs and Border Protection has released more than 100,000 migrants into San Diego in the past year. The vast majority—more than 95% of them—only stay in town for a few days before connecting with relatives or friends in other parts of the country, according to data from the County of San Diego. But some of those with nowhere else to go are becoming homeless.

PATH is an organization that seeks to end homelessness by providing supportive services and building affordable housing throughout the region. Last September, PATH started tracking individuals who identify as migrants who are seeking shelter at the city’s Homelessness Response Center, a centralized hub where homeless San Diegans can get connected to various services.

Since then, staff have counted more than 1,100 migrants seeking shelter. Some of those numbers may include duplicates or one individual who made multiple visits, a PATH spokesperson said.

California Needs A Million EV Charging Stations — But That’s ‘Unlikely’ And ‘Unrealistic’

California will have to build public charging stations at an unprecedented pace to meet the needs of the seven million electric cars expected on its roads in less than seven years.

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The sheer scale of the buildout has alarmed many experts and lawmakers, who fear that the state won’t be prepared as Californians purchase more electric cars.

A million public chargers are needed in California by the end of 2030, according to the state’s projections — almost 10 times more than the number available to drivers in December. To meet that target, 129,000 new stations — more than seven times the current pace — must be built every year for the next seven years. Then the pace would have to accelerate again to reach a target of 2.1 million chargers in 2035.

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