SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Mexico’s National Guard is deploying more soldiers to an area between San Diego and Tijuana that has seen an increased number of unlawful crossings in recent weeks.
The added foot patrols are also a result of verbal abuse and threats from smugglers directed at the soldiers, according to David Pérez Tejada, head of Mexico’s National Institute of Migration in Baja California.
“We are getting a lot of aggressive encounters,” he said. “We’re also asking migrants to stay out of this area.”
The area is just east of Tijuana’s bullring in a canyon about half a mile from the coast, where, according to Pérez Tejada, at least 100 people are unlawfully crossing the border daily.
“The soldiers’ presence works, we have seen a reduction in crossings and we’ll continue to have patrols 24 hours a day in this particular problem spot.”
He also says there are many homes nearby where people have complained of hearing gunshots and seeing migrants trespassing on their properties.
Recently, a 17-year-old migrant girl was shot and killed after being caught in the crossfire between two rival smuggling organizations.
“This is an area in dispute,” said Enrique Lucero, Director of Tijuana’s Migrant Affairs Office. “This is a delicate place where there have been a lot of confrontations, that’s why we have the National Guard there.”
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