Migrants Awaiting Processing Fill Two Border Town Hotels, While California Foots the Bill
On 4/28/21 at 4:49 PM EDT
Migrants continue to seek refuge at the southern border, and Imperial County, California, positioned across from the Mexican border city of Mexicali, has felt the effects.
Two of the area's hotels, the Ramada by Wyndham Hotel in Holtville and Travelodge by Wyndham El Centro, currently house migrants awaiting processing, with each hotel at full capacity.
While El Centro's Mayor Cheryl Viegas-Walker told the Calexico Chronicle she does not care who stays in local hotels, she and other Imperial Valley officials do care what happens with funds gathered from the transient occupancy tax, known as the "bed tax," an 8 to 10% increment added to the total cost of renting a room for less than 30 days.