 |
|
|
 News from Around the Americas | October 2007 
Fire Burns Illegal Border Crossing
 Elliot Spagat - Associated Press
go to original
| | United States Border Patrol agent Joe Mason inspects numerous hillside paths used by people trying to cross the border, which had previously been difficult to see, were left exposed after fire burned the surrounding vegetation near Dulzura, Calif., Tuesday, October 23, 2007. The Harris fire had burned through the area the day before along the U.S.-Mexico border. (AP/David Maung) |
San Diego - Border Patrol agents scoured fire-ravaged ravines and canyons Friday for dead bodies after discovering the charred remains of four people in a remote but heavily trafficked crossing corridor for illegal immigrants from Mexico.
The bodies, believed to be migrants, were found in the woods Thursday near a remote Border Patrol checkpoint that was evacuated Monday as wildfires swept toward federal agents.
The fires also led the patrol to limit its presence on the border by reassigning about 115 agents around the clock to direct traffic and knock on doors to evacuate homes in San Diego's urban sprawl. About 200 of the 600 National Guard troops who help patrol California's border with Mexico were also reassigned to keep the peace among evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium.
The Border Patrol reopened its checkpoint Thursday on State Route 94, a two-lane highway that straddles the Mexican border. The building remained intact, but flames torched a tow truck.
Shortly after the agency returned to full force in the area Thursday, it reported the discovery of four bodies near the checkpoint, apparently two men and two women. The San Diego County medical examiner's office said Friday that the ages and nationalities of the dead were unknown. It was unclear when they died.
It's impossible to know how many took advantage of the Border Patrol's absence but some tried. A 20-year-old Mexican man was seriously injured Monday when he and five others sought refuge from the blaze with firefighters, according to Alberto Lozano, a spokesman for the Mexican consulate in San Diego. He and five others who suffered moderate burns were treated at a San Diego hospital.
The Border Patrol said it has arrested more than 200 migrants since Sunday in the area torched by the Harris Fire, which has burned 84,000 acres and continued to spread slowly Friday in a well-trekked area near Portrero, about 35 miles east of San Diego.
"They figured there was a good chance to get through because the Border Patrol wasn't around," said Joe Mason, a Border Patrol supervisor. "They knew we we're off doing other things."
One agent, Clint Thielmann, said he arrested three migrants as they fled down a ravine, about a half-mile from the fire Monday morning, shortly before the Border Patrol withdrew. "They had no backpacks, no water," he said.
The fire spread to the Mexican side of the border early in the week near Tecate, where four migrants sought help from Mexican authorities after a failed attempt to cross the border.
"Their eyes were irritated and they were hungry and thirsty and wanted us to help them get to Tijuana, (Mexico), so they could go home," said Jose Luis Hernandez, the Tecate coordinator of Mexico's Grupo Beta migrant protection agency.
Aside from the safety risks, illegal immigrants had other reasons to stay away from the fires.
Migrants depend on drivers, and roads in the area were closed much of the week. Typically, migrants pay about $1,500 each to be guided through the canyons for hours, even days, and be picked up by someone on the side of the road for the drive to San Diego.
Heightened border enforcement in the 1990s in San Diego pushed migrants to mountains that rise to 4,000 feet within about 60 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The area is dotted with small towns and horse farms.
The fire may cause migrants to rethink whether it makes sense to cross elsewhere because it is more difficult to hide in the barren hills.
"It should make our job a little easier," Mason said.
Associated Press writer Olga R. Rodriguez contributed to this report from Mexico City. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us