Nowhere have the Central American immigrants been met with such tremendous anger as they have here, in this middle-class conservative community about 90 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

“We didn’t ask for this problem — it was just dumped at our doorstep,” said Mayor Alan Long, who has lived here most of his life and told residents he planned to send a “fat bill” to President Obama. “This is a nationwide problem, and little Murrieta has taken the lead.”

A generation ago, Murrieta was not much more than a rural desert outpost, but in the past decade the population has exploded to more than 100,000, with suburban developments taking over large plots of scrub brush. For the most part, residents were attracted to the promise of a quieter life and housing that was much less expensive than in the coastal cities where they once lived.

The recent tensions have exposed a deep divide in the city: Although Latinos make up more than 25 percent of the population and have opened up several small businesses as the area has grown, Murrieta has not been as transformed by immigration as many other communities in Southern California have.

The city’s motto calls Murrieta “the future of Southern California.” Its official song, which was created for the city’s 21st anniversary, is called “Gem of the Valley” and boasts that “she’s a safe place, where we can live, laugh, learn and play.” Many residents say they came here to escape the kind of crime and urban problems they now fear the immigrants could bring.

During Wednesday night’s meeting, dozens of residents vented at the Obama administration for what they saw as a failure to secure the borders. And they vowed to continue to fight back, promising to show up at the local Border Patrol station every time they know a new bus of immigrants is scheduled to arrive.