Protesters gather at Murrieta to await buses of immigrants

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Protester William Satmary of Murrieta stands on a hill to keep a lookout for buses containing immigrant detainees. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta police handcuff and detain a protester after an altercation. (Matt Hansen / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta police scuffle with protesters who were waiting for buses containing immigrant detainees. (Matt Hansen / Los Angeles Times)

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Minor pushing and yelling matches break out July 4 in the emotionally charged crowd of protesters gathering in front of the U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta in anticipation of the arrival of more buses carrying immigrant detainees. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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During one of the minor confrontations of the day, Salvadore Chavez, 24, finds himself in an unfriendly crowd as he tries to hold a sign expressing his immigration-rights sentiment. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta police divide opposing groups of protesters as they wait for buses containing immigrant detainees on July 4. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Police stand between opposing groups of protesters as they await the possible arrival of buses containing immigrant detainees outside the Murrieta Border Patrol facility. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Police officers monitor crowds of protesters gathered in front of the U.S. Border Patrol station Friday. Some were there in support of the migrants, others in opposition. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Police detain a man near a U.S. Border Patrol facility who was there to protest the possible arrival of migrants from Central America. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Protesters against illegal immigration stand ready at sunrise with their flags at the U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta July, 4, 2014. Protesters on both sides of the issue are waiting for the possible arrival of more busloads of immigrant detainees. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A group supporting immigrant rights gathers outside the performing arts building at Murrieta Mesa High School during the town hall meeting. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Members of the community arrive for a town hall meeting in the performing arts building at Murrieta Mesa High School to voice their concerns and listen to public officials over the proposed processing of immigrant detainees at the Murrieta Border Patrol station. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Latin singer Lupillo Rivera is mobbed by followers and supporters after Rivera spoke during the town hall meeting at Murrieta Mesa High School on Wednesday. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta residents Carol Schlaepfer, left, and Beverly Trigilio boo when President Obama’s name is mentioned during a town hall meeting at Vista Murrieta High School. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta resident Martin Doran and others cheer comments made by Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta Mayor Alan Long stands in the wings while Murrieta residents are briefed at a town hall meeting. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Murrieta residents applaud at the town hall meeting. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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All is calm at the Border Patrol in Murrieta on the morning after a crowd of citizens carrying flags and signs blocked three buses from entering the facility. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Concerned citizens cruise by the Border Patrol station in Murrieta after the protests. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Members of the Latino community verbally square off with residents opposed to illegal immigration in front of the U.S. Border Patrol office in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Protester Jessica Davis shouts at counter-demonstrators in front of the U.S. Border Patrol office in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Mexican flags flap in the breeze in front of the U.S. Border Patrol office in Murrieta, where hours earlier a large group of local residents turned away three buses carrying immigrant detainees. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Residents express their feelings in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A large group of people carrying flags and posters on Tuesday protest a caravan of three buses carrying immigrant detainees, who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas, to a U.S. Border Patrol facility in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Immigrant-rights activist Lupillo Rivera, right, squares off with a large crowd of local citizens carrying flags and posters on the street in front of the U.S. Border Patrol in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A crowd of 200 to 300 people in downtown Murrieta surround three buses carrying immigrant detainees. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A crowd of 200 to 300 people in downtown Murrieta surround three buses carrying immigrant detainees. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Officials escorting immigrant detainees to a facility at the U.S. Border Patrol in Murrieta watch as protesters block the road. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A group of local residents carrying flags and posters assist in turning away three buses carrying immigrant detainees to a Border Patrol station in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Three buses carrying immigrant detainees are blocked by protesters in Murrieta. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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One of the three buses carrying immigrant detainees to a U.S. Border Patrol facility in Murrieta backs up after protesters blocked the road. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

By Tony Perry, Matt Hansen

July 4, 2014 2:14 PM PT

Protesters have gathered near the entrance to a Border Patrol facility in Murrieta, Calif., on Friday to await buses of undocumented immigrants, but whether those buses will arrive is unknown.

Unlike Tuesday when shouting, flag-waving protesters blocked three busloads of immigrants, Murrieta police Friday morning cleared the entry road.

The estimated 100 demonstrators, including those favoring the immigrants, were being restricted to a “safety zone” away from the road. Many had remained all night at the site, vowing a repeat of Tuesday’s blockade.

Authorities kept the road to the processing center clear and the protesters in check, although scuffles did break out. In total, Murrieta police arrested six people for obstructing officers including five who were detained during an afternoon altercation,

On Friday morning, one 56-year-old protester was cited for interfering with police, authorities said. Local police officers also had to step in and separate two groups of protesters who were arguing, but no one appeared to be injured or arrested following that confrontation.

Earlier this week, federal officials said that 140 immigrants would arrive Friday at Lindbergh Field in San Diego by charter flight from Texas and then be sent for processing to Murrieta, a community of 105,000 along Interstate 15 in southern Riverside County.

But in the wake of Tuesday’s blockade, officials declined to announce the schedule. The result was that it was unknown whether buses would arrive at Murrieta or get rerouted to other facilities where there were few, if any, protesters.

On Thursday night, Murrieta City Manager Rick Dudley issued a “message to the community” calling for greater civility from those opposed to the government’s approach to the mass influx of undocumented immigrants. He said Tuesday’s protest brought unflattering national news coverage and “was a loss for the city of Murrieta, for the community that we live in and love.”

“It made this extremely compassionate community look heartless and uncaring,” he said. “That is not the Murrieta that we all know and love.”

In a shift from previous days, pro-immigrant supporters outnumbered anti-illegal immigration protesters on the dusty roads leading to the Murrieta Border Patrol facility Friday.

With the steady beat of drums keeping time, dancers in indigenous garb chanted and held signs urging respect and dignity for immigrants. A crowd of roughly 80, down from the hundreds who had blocked buses on Tuesday, milled behind a police line under the hot sun.

Elizabeth Thornton joined them to argue against the intolerance she says has defined the debate so far. “I’m not a fan of ICE,” she said. “But this is a necessary step for these people to be released. We’re here to counter the overwhelming racism and xenophobia that we’ve seen here the last few days.”

Maria Carrillo, a local resident, said she didn’t think that buses of women and children were such a threat. She said her daughter came to Tuesday’s demonstration but was spit on and asked to clean toilets.

“I’ve lived here for 12 years,” Carrillo said, “and I’ve never felt different until now.”

Steve Prime, another area resident, said he was not impressed with the pro-immigration supporters. Unable to attend the week-long protests because of work commitments, he was spending his holiday supporting Murrieta residents opposed to the immigrant arrivals.

“I’m just tired of our borders being overrun,” he said. “We’re here being peaceful. I don’t like the language being used by the other side.”

Many of the anti-immigration protesters, including volunteers who had patrolled the U.S.-Mexico border, were irritated by Dudley’s suggestion that the demonstrators had an issue with the immigrants aboard the bus.

William Satmary, who helped organize the anti-immigration protest, called for the federal government to rethink border policy. Local governments, such as Murrieta, don’t have the capacity to handle the new arrivals, he said.

“We are not racists or bigots. If you love the people on the bus, you should support us because we’re stopping the government from putting them out on the streets,” he said. “This is about resources, not race.” Cindy Klein, 55, of Long Beach, said the demonstrations against the arrival of the buses had nothing to do with the women and children aboard, but rather were about what their arrival represented.

“It’s not the people, I don’t know them, I can’t hate them,” she said. “I hate their actions, that they’ve broken the law.”

James Barragan contributed to this story.