Desert Sun staff reports

As elected leaders and community service groups across Southern California braced themselves for the impact of having hundreds of immigrant families taken here, protesters in Murrieta blocked part of the first wave of families set to arrive Tuesday.

That first wave — totaling about 300 people — was set to arrive there and in El Centro Tuesday.

Additional flights will arrive every three days as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection tries to address the overcrowded facilities in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, which has seen an unprecedented spike in illegal crossings since October.

Here's the latest:

3:21 p.m.: Union representative Ron Zermeno tells The Desert Sun that the Murrieta Border Patrol station will not resume normal operations but instead send its entire staff to the San Diego area to help with the processing of the re-routed immigrant families.

"It's just a matter of time," he said.

3:09 p.m.: With the protest too much in Murrieta, Border Patrol union representatives confirm the buses are heading to a San Diego County processing center.

2:55 p.m.: The crowd of protesters in Murrieta blocked buses from entering the Border Patrol station. Officials did not immediately say where they were going to be detoured.

2:38 p.m.: Imperial County officials have confirmed that the Border Patrol will not bring migrant families to El Centro until Wednesday. Border Patrol and ICE have assured the county that the transfer will not become a drain on local resources.

2:25 p.m.: Here are more photos from the scene, courtesy of Richard Lui:

2:20 p.m.: Some of the protesters are sitting in front of the buses as they try to enter the Murrieta center.

2:07 p.m.: The buses carrying migrant families from Texas have arrived in Murrieta.

The buses took a detour rather than enter the Border Patrol station's front entrance, where about 100 people are gathered.

A Department of Homeland Security official in California told The Associated Press that a chartered plane landed in San Diego after 12 p.m. with 136 migrants on board. The official was not authorized to be named when speaking on the issue.

Murrieta city officials are planning a 5 p.m. announcement in front of City Hall.

-- Ricardo Cano

1:37 p.m.: After the families are processed inside the Border Patrol station in Murrieta Border, they will be taken by vans to bus stops across the region and dropped off, three different Border Patrol union representatives have told The Desert Sun.

Christopher Harris, vice president of National Border Patrol Council's Local 1613, said it is part of the usual protocol by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Gabe Pacheco, an agent and representative with the Border Patrol union, called the whole process "de facto amnesty."

The agents are expected to take the immigrant families to stations in Menifee, San Bernardino and Perris. No one has mentioned locations inside the Coachella Valley.

The bus taking immigrant families to Murrieta for processing has been delayed, but it is expected within the hour.

If immigrants are taken to bus stops, it would mirror what happened in May when immigrants from the Rio Grande Valley were taken to Tuscon.

The families ended up at Greyhound bus stations in Phoenix and Tuscon, according to reports from The Arizona Republic.

1:30 p.m.: San Diego-based Border Angels, a nonprofit that aims to bring relief to day labored and immigrants, is working with local San Diego officials to establish housing sites for displaced immigrants who have no family.

"I agree with what President Obama said recently about this being a humanitarian crisis, and If we this is a humanitarian crisis, then we need a humanitarian solution," said Enrique Morones, president and founder of Border Angels, said outside of the Menifee station.

Just sending back children and deporting immigrants, "that is not a humanitarian solution," he said.

"If these children were Canadian, we would not be having this interview right now," he added.

12:54 p.m.: Unlike heated exchanges that are occurring in the crowd outside of the Murrieta station, the El Centro Border Patrol Station on West Aten Road remained quiet on Tuesday afternoon.

There were no protesters or organizers in sight.

Miguel Garcia, spokesman for the El Centro Border Patrol Sector, declined to comment on the issue and deferred all questions to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection public affairs office in El Centro.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters, located just two miles away from the Border Patrol station, was also quiet and officials declined to comment.

Immigrant families are expected to be flown from Texas to Yuma, and taken by bus to El Centro. Officials have not said when the bus might arrive.

-- Tatiana Sanchez

12:07 p.m.: Here are some of the images from Murrieta, courtesy of Desert Sun photographer Richard Lui:

11:26 a.m.: Ron Zermeno -- the union representative for the Border Patrol agents in Murrieta and serves as the station's health director – told The Desert Sun that he has serious concerns about whether the station can handle even the first wave of families.

The station, he said, has no dining or dorm facilities to accommodate anyone detained for a long period of time. Instead, Zermeno said the immigrants – mostly women and children -- will be fed three meals a day in their cells.

"It's chaos. It's going to be a mess," he added.

The Murrieta station normally focuses on prosecuting drug-related crimes, such as smuggling.

To handle the transfer from Texas – and process everyone within 72 hours -- Zermeno said routine operations are essentially being suspended. All available resources, including the patrol dogs, are being reassigned to this effort.

Zermeno declined to detail the staffing levels at the station out of security concerns. But he said he requested more staff, and got only five more supervisors.

"What does that say about the situation?" he said.

-- Ricardo Cano

11:15 a.m.: About 15 protesters are now outside of the Murrieta station.

"We can't start taking care of others if we can't take care of our own," said Nancy Greyson, a 60-year-old from Murrieta.

A crowd had gathered there Monday as well, some staying as late as 1 a.m. Tuesday.

11:10 a.m.: The Desert Sun has learned the the flight from Texas to San Diego has been delayed.

Families won't arrive in Murrieta until 12:30 p.m.

10:43 a.m.: About 140 migrant adults and children will arrive in San Diego around 11 a.m. and then taken by bus to the Border Patrol station in Murrieta.

About 10 protesters already are out there, voicing their opposition to the federal government's plan.

10:05 a.m.: Murrieta Mayor Alan Long is encouraging the city's 107,000 residents to call elected leaders and voice opposition to the Border Patrol plan.

"We want to make sure everyone is doing what they say they're going to do," Long said.

Police are ready for any security issues, and are starting a hotline to field questions about the transfers.

Many of the migrants are under the impression that they will receive leniency from U.S. authorities. Once the migrants are processed, Immigration and Customs Enforcement will decide who can be released while awaiting deportation proceedings.

-- Associated Press

9:44 a.m.: Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone on Tuesday said the county offered to provide a mobile health clinic at the Border Control station in Murrieta, but the federal government declined the offer.

"It seems like we may need to be prepared for what I would call a local state of emergency," said Stone, a Temecula Republican now running for a state Senate district that includes the Coachella Valley.

"We stand ready, and we are hoping to continue to work with our congressman (U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert), with our U.S. Senators, to do what the county is supposed to do, and that is to provide social services for people that are in the county of Riverside irrespective of their nationality. ... It's almost like a FEMA event."

-- Barrett Newkirk

9:30 a.m.: Aides for U.S. Reps. Raul Ruiz, a Palm Desert, and for U.S. Rep. Juan Vargas, a San Diego, confirmed the two Democrats are keeping updated on the situation.

Ruiz is scheduled to be in El Centro Tuesday for a meeting related to the Salton Sea restoration, but has not announced any plans to go to the Border Patrol station.

Rep. Ken Calvert, a Corona Republican who is opposing the Border Patrol's plan, had toured the Murrieta station on Monday.

"Ultimately, the root cause of our crisis is President Obama's failure to enforce our immigration laws. Immigrants illegally entering the U.S. in (Texas) are literally walking up to CBP officers looking to be detained, knowing that the current U.S. policy is to simply release them. I am convinced that unless we fundamentally change our approach, the crisis will only grow larger."

-- Erica Felci