SAN DIEGO, CA - Smuggling routes that have been consistent for years are shifting again. This time, San Diego is in the top spot for illegal alien crossings into the United States.
The LATimes reported that smuggling routes that “were consistent for many years,” have been shifting “every few months since 2021.” While the outlet blames part of the issue on “the post-pandemic increase in global migration to the U.S.,” the problem is much larger than that.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reports that the highest totals of illegals coming into San Diego were from 1973 to 1997. Tucson then slid into the top spot from 1998 to 2012.
Starting in 2013, the CBP reported in their monthly breakdown that Texas’ Rio Grande Valley was seeing the most illegals until May 2022. And this seems to be where the longer stretches conclude.
From 2021-2022 to present, CBP has seen shifts every few months into different regions. Del Rio to El Paso to Rio Grande to Tucson. San Diego is slated to be the fifth should the weekly trends stay consistent.
Adam Isacson, who is the director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America said that based on their relations with corrupt officials and organized crime organizations, “smugglers use to tell migrants where to cross.” He also noted that this “seems to be changing.”
Technology is playing a huge role in the communication shift. With cellphone use increasing, illegals can receive information from “TikTok and WhatsApp and what you hear in shelters along the way, what other migrants tell you on the road,” Isacson said.
“They’re getting news in a way that you couldn’t really get it before,” he continued.
With Mexico’s government increasing enforcement against those traveling through the country towards Texas on top of rail cars, Texas is seeing their lowest arrests since October 2019.
According to an anonymous senior official with CBP, it is more difficult for Mexican officials to disrupt migration to Baja California. With Tijuana being a large metropolitan area, making travel by legitimate means easy and nearly undetectable. Additionally, inland crossings are more difficult for Border Patrol to respond to quickly.
The Department of Homeland Security is shifting resources and personnel in anticipation of the trend holding for a period of time.
It is worth noting that California programs were just granted $45 million by the Biden administration to assist migrants who have crossed the southern border.
The LATimes reported that smuggling routes that “were consistent for many years,” have been shifting “every few months since 2021.” While the outlet blames part of the issue on “the post-pandemic increase in global migration to the U.S.,” the problem is much larger than that.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reports that the highest totals of illegals coming into San Diego were from 1973 to 1997. Tucson then slid into the top spot from 1998 to 2012.
Starting in 2013, the CBP reported in their monthly breakdown that Texas’ Rio Grande Valley was seeing the most illegals until May 2022. And this seems to be where the longer stretches conclude.
From 2021-2022 to present, CBP has seen shifts every few months into different regions. Del Rio to El Paso to Rio Grande to Tucson. San Diego is slated to be the fifth should the weekly trends stay consistent.
Adam Isacson, who is the director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America said that based on their relations with corrupt officials and organized crime organizations, “smugglers use to tell migrants where to cross.” He also noted that this “seems to be changing.”
Technology is playing a huge role in the communication shift. With cellphone use increasing, illegals can receive information from “TikTok and WhatsApp and what you hear in shelters along the way, what other migrants tell you on the road,” Isacson said.
“They’re getting news in a way that you couldn’t really get it before,” he continued.
With Mexico’s government increasing enforcement against those traveling through the country towards Texas on top of rail cars, Texas is seeing their lowest arrests since October 2019.
According to an anonymous senior official with CBP, it is more difficult for Mexican officials to disrupt migration to Baja California. With Tijuana being a large metropolitan area, making travel by legitimate means easy and nearly undetectable. Additionally, inland crossings are more difficult for Border Patrol to respond to quickly.
The Department of Homeland Security is shifting resources and personnel in anticipation of the trend holding for a period of time.
It is worth noting that California programs were just granted $45 million by the Biden administration to assist migrants who have crossed the southern border.
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