RIVERSIDE, Calif. (CNS) — The Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a $2.5 million increase in allocations for COVID screening of undocumented immigrants dropped by federal agents at transportation hubs throughout Riverside County.

In a 5-0 vote, the board authorized the Emergency Management Department to continue its current contract with Tustin-based Equaltox Laboratory at a total cost of $3.11 million, compared to the original contract price of $614,400. Equaltox began providing SARS-CoV-2 testing services for the county, specifically in response to the border crisis, in July.

Between March and June, the number of border crossers entering the county was estimated at 200 a week. But since July, the number has swelled to 600 per week, and according to EMD Director Bruce Barton, most of those are individuals and families picked up by the U.S. Border Patrol and turned loose in Blythe, Indio and Murrieta — near U.S. Customs & Border Protection stations — where bus and other transportation services are available.

"The Border Patrol does not have the ability to take care of them," Barton told the board. "There's a humanitarian issue here. There's an impact to communities where they're being dropped off with COVID status unknown."

Those who test positive for the virus are placed in "isolation quarantine," Barton said. But the quarantine generally involves 12-day hotel and motel stays at taxpayer expense, under a policy approved by the board in May, using American Rescue Plan Act money or other federal reimbursements to the county.

"This is kind of a shocker. Millions and millions of dollars are going into this," Rancho Mirage resident Brad Anderson told the board during public comments on the Equaltox compact. "I have a lot of negative things to say, but I hope you will inform the public about this. I'm opposed to this."

Barton described the expenditures as necessary for "safety net services provided by the county because these people are being brought in by the federal government."

Along with the EMD, the Department of Housing, Homelessness Prevention & Workforce Solutions, the Department of Probation, the Department of Mental Health and other county agencies are working to vet and render services to undocumented immigrants under the Riverside County Asylum Seeker Response Program.

A letter co-authored by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, and sent to the Biden administration last month said that more than 1.3 million migrants have been apprehended entering the U.S. illegally between January and September, setting a record and representing a 386% increase compared to the same period in 2020.

The bulk of apprehensions have occurred in Texas, though streams of asylum seekers have continued to enter via California and other southern border states, according to officials.