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Murrieta Mayor Blames Protest Chaos on Obama, Congress in Letter

Mayor Alan Long said protests in Murrieta were not representative of the town, but that many residents share the protesters' sentiments.
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The mayor of Murrieta, California, the town where protesters have gathered to meet buses of undocumented immigrants, wrote a letter to President Barack Obama blaming “the lack of dialogue between the President and Congress” for a “damaged” Murrieta. Buses of 140 immigrants were forced to flee their intended destination of Murrieta on Tuesday when they were met with protesters shouting slogans like, “Go back to Mexico.” A similar scene could unfold Friday if more buses arrive.

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Mayor Alan Long wrote that the outburst was not representative of the town, but added that many residents share the protesters’ sentiments. "Outrage turned into concern" at a Town Hall meeting attended by 1,500 in the town of 106,000 people, where Long said many expressed they were disappointed with the "failure of the U.S. immigration policy." Long said the facility where the migrants are meant to be processed is not designed for the purpose of hosting the busloads of people he was told would arrive every 72 hours. “It is essentially a jail, designed to hold drug runners and criminals,” Long wrote.

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