Emails show Portland city leaders had little time to prepare for influx of asylum seekers

PORTLAND (WGME) - Portland city leaders had little time to prepare for the recent influx of asylum seekers, according to emails obtained using public records laws.

Emails between Portland City Manager Jon Jennings and San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh show Jennings found out about the expected surge the day the asylum seekers started to arrive.

"Can you call me on my cell when you get a chance (number redacted). Wanted to give you a heads up on an issue," Walsh sent Jennings Sunday night, June 9.

City spokesperson Jessica Grondin confirmed this was the first contact between Jennings and Walsh about the expected influx of asylum seekers.

"It was in terms of the unprecedented number of people that arrived that weekend when this began," Grondin said.

While asylum seekers have come to Portland for years, this sudden surge was unexpected.

"We've been receiving people over the last several years, but it's been slowly," Grondin said.

On Monday, June 10, Jennings wrote to Walsh: "Thank you again for the heads up."

"We have seen approximately 69 individuals arrive over the last two days, but from other points of entry. Do you have a sense of timing when we should expect the approximately 150 we discussed yesterday," Jennings wrote in a follow-up email Tuesday, June 11.

Walsh said some left Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

Portland did not buy any bus tickets for the Texas asylum seekers, according to Grondin.

"We heard from San Antonio that Catholic Charities bought the bus tickets for the round that the city manager [Walsh] let us know about," Grondin said.

Thousands of asylum seekers arrived in San Antonio this month.

They were released from federal custody after declaring their intent to seek asylum.

Hundreds picked Portland as their destination.

"We heard from back home that Portland was the place that welcomed immigrant and really take care of them, that's why we choose to come to Portland," asylum seeker Alfonse Miguel told CBS 13 through an interpreter.

He arrived in Portland from Angola on Sunday, June 9.

We also requested emails between Mayor Ethan Strimling and San Antonio city officials.

We were told no emails exist.

Strimling told CBS 13 Tuesday afternoon that he hasn't been in touch with anyone in San Antonio.

Two months before the surge in asylum seekers he tweeted, "If Trump wants to send more immigrants our way, I say, 'Welcome Home!'"

Strimling's tweet appears to be a piggy back on Governor Janet Mills' new sign at the Maine border, which reads, "Maine: Welcome Home," as part of her push to attract a more diverse population, including immigrants.