The border crisis in Texas has been easing over the last few months as the state has taken aggressive steps to close off several points of entry for illegal aliens.
But plugging one or two holes in Texas has led to leaks in other border states. In particular, California has seen a huge increase in border patrol drop-offs, especially in San Diego.
About 125,000 illegals have been released onto the streets of San Diego since last September. The Border Patrol processing centers are at 245% capacity. According to the Border Patrol, 1,812 migrants were being detained as of Friday in facilities normally meant to hold 750.
The rest are loaded into buses and dropped off in an area frequented by illegal aliens. “Thank you, America, thank you, American president,” a released illegal alien from India said after Border Patrol personnel dropped him off.
Chances are good that the Indian citizen got less than a cursory vetting. And this is very concerning to the border patrol.
“You have to keep in mind that we only know what we have in our databases, but when they’re coming from other countries if the United States doesn’t have cooperation we don’t know what their background is in their country,” National Border Patrol Council President for the San Diego sector Manny Bayon told The New York Post.
It was in the San Diego sector that an Afghan national, Mohammad Kharwin, was allowed to enter the U.S. in March 2023 and was not identified as being listed on the terrorist watch list until last week.
“It’s affecting morale very much so because obviously, we took an oath to defend the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic. There’s no consequences for anyone coming to the United States now,” Bayon said of the mass releases. It’s just not possible to do a thorough background check on several million people who cross the border illegally every year.
Many of the people buying pistols at Firearms Unlimited California said they were concerned about the massive number of migrants being released onto the local streets after the area became a hub for the crisis at the border — which is just 25 miles from El Cajon, a Southern California suburb of 105,000 people.
“My wife and I have had home defense guns for many years. Recently, though, with all the stuff that’s happening south of the border and all the people coming over, my concerns have broadened,” said Keith Carnevale, one of the shop’s customers, who’s armed his entire family.
“I don’t think it’s just the people that are coming over to try to find work, I think we have a lot of hostile people that are coming over with ill will, ill intent that will potentially cause chaos.”
San Diego’s problems with illegal entries extend to water-borne attempts to enter the U.S. illegally. Brandon Tucker, director of Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations in San Diego says there’s been an explosion of small craft trying to enter the U.S.
“In fiscal year 2020, federal, state, and local law enforcement recorded 308 maritime smuggling events in the California area of responsibility, according to CBP. Last fiscal year, they recorded 736, a nearly 140% increase,” reports Fox News.
Sometimes, CBP or the Coast Guard are able to stop them. Nearly 8,000 people have been apprehended while trying to enter the U.S. illegally through the Pacific Ocean, its coastlines or its inlets since 2020, data provided by CBP show.
Other times, they find empty boats on the shore. The migrant group on March 27 came ashore in Del Mar, at the exact same beach where, just one month before, Tucker had stumbled upon an abandoned panga while walking his puppy on his morning off.
By this time next month, the surge is likely to be somewhere else. Perhaps back in Texas, perhaps in Arizona, wherever the illegals can easily cross will become a hub of illegal alien activity.