The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that illegal immigrants are increasingly turning to California beaches as a route into the United States.
Under the Biden administration, the number of illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border has increased sharply, and the number of successful and unsuccessful attempts to enter California by boat has also skyrocketed from 308 in 2020 to 736 in 2023. according to WSJ quoted Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as saying: Most immigrants came through the San Diego area, but many headed north to Santa Barbara County.
“The big concern for us is we have no idea who these people are,” San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond told the Journal. “We don’t know what they’re doing. They’re ghosts.” (Related: Boat full of migrants rams law enforcement boat in Florida)
Federal agents have already made more than 220,000 arrests in the San Diego area since October 1, and nearly 8,000 people have been arrested for illegally entering the United States by sea since 2020, according to the Journal.
Rafael Fernández de Castro, director of the Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies at the University of California, San Diego, said most of the migrants smuggled into the U.S. by boat are likely Mexicans who have been previously deported or have criminal records. he said. .
“If they are found by the police, they run the risk of being immediately kicked out or even serving time in prison,” Fernandez de Castro told the Journal.
U.S. California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference in Beijing, China, October 25, 2023. (Reuters/Tingshu Wang/File photo)
Desmond argued that blue states are “rolling out the red carpet and welcome mat for illegal immigrants to cross our borders,” citing a 2017 law that limits when local officials can work with federal immigration partners. The paper reported that.
A spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom countered that local governments may still cooperate with federal authorities on serious criminals and told the Journal that Congress should pass border security legislation and asylum reform. Ta.
The newspaper said some of the boat smuggling attempts were captured on video and posted on social media, showing migrants fleeing into waiting vehicles.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that they don’t care about being seen,” Britt Meyer, an independent journalist who covers the issue in the San Diego area, told the Journal.
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