California City Is Again Immigration Flashpoint

MURRIETA, Calif. (AP) — Demonstrators on both sides of the immigration debate have again gathered outside a U.S. Border Patrol station in Southern California.

It's the spot where demonstrators earlier this week forced the Border Patrol to turn back the buses that were bringing some immigrants for processing, after removing them from overcrowded facilities in Texas.

About 15 officers from the Murrieta Police Department, the Riverside County sheriff's deputies and the Border Patrol have been keeping demonstrators behind a line of yellow tape. There's a path that would allow buses to get access to the station, but it's not clear whether any buses are on their way. There have been shouting matches among the demonstrators, but no violence.

Murrieta's mayor has been a hero to those seeking stronger immigration policies, with his criticism of the federal government's efforts to handle the thousands of immigrants who have flooded the Texas border.

But a message that has been posted on the city's website by the city manager expresses regret that the busloads of women and children were forced to turn around. Rick Dudley wrote that it was a "loss" for the city, and that it made an "extremely compassionate community look heartless and uncaring." The statement suggested that the protesters had come from elsewhere in Southern California.

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