Introduction
At the time that the Title 42 policy expired, hundreds of mostly economic refugees crossed the border in San Diego County. This post shows how they were able to cross in the area between the San Ysidro border crossing and the Pacific Ocean, a distance of 5.5 miles. Of course, they can always climb the border fence. Climbing the border fence is nothing new but there are also a couple of other convenient ways they can cross here. The great majority of people are not physically able to climb the high bollard fence.
Though vulnerabilities still exist in the current fence, the construction by Trump was very helpful. The Border Patrol has always said that no border barrier is going to be perfect. What they need is a barrier that will slow them down and channel them into areas where they are easier to catch. However, this does not deter fraudulent asylum seekers, who want to surrender to the nearest Border Patrolman.
Asylum fraud is the main problem at this time. The ultimate solution to mass asylum fraud is a change in policy or law. Trump demonstrated this with his return-to-Mexico policy.
How they crossed the border fence
A knowledgeable source told me that this was a cartel operation. The local cartel controls the illegal traffic on the border, whether drugs or human. The source said that some climbed the fence and others crossed via the very large storm drains that run underneath the border fence in several places. The drains have floodgates on them so that they can be opened when it rains. The local cartel men just cut the floodgates open and people run through it into the US, after having paid the cartel coyote their crossing fee, of course.
This is how they were able to cross the primary bollard fence. They went over and under it with the help of the cartel. Then they go to the nearest Border Patrol agent and tell them that they want to “seek asylum”. Most only seek to be released into the US to ultimately live illegally.
The Biden administration is in my opinion criminally complicit with the cartels in smuggling these mostly economic refugees across the border in order to obtain social benefits and better paying jobs. Seeking a better life is not a legal qualification for asylum. Better employment often includes working for the cartel that smuggled them into the US in a criminal enterprise of some kind, such as drug sales, money laundering, prostitution and human trafficking.
Our own government at national and local levels aid in creating conditions that encourage smuggling of unqualified refugees across the border and very large amounts of government funds are paid to support this enormous human-trafficking network on this side of the border.
Encampment at water treatment plant
There was one large encampment near the wastewater treatment plant. This is just off Monument Road The camp was between the primary and secondary fences. The Border Patrol allowed access to this camp from outside the secondary fence. Here is a video of that camp.
Storm drains under border fence
This is an image from Google Earth of the storm drain that is just next to the campsite. These storm drains are designed to facilitate the flow of toxic, run-off water from Mexico into the US when it rains. The water is polluted with sewage and toxic wastes.
This is probably the storm drain that they went through. After the asylum posers were transferred to a detention center, I saw Mexican national guardsmen protecting the intake of this drain after the economic refugees had been moved to a detention center.
There was another campsite a couple miles to the west of this one. This second campsite reportedly contained single men, because the women at the first site were being harassed. The Border Patrol would not allow vehicles to visit this other camp. It is not clear whether they crossed the primary fence with the rest in the other camp next to the water-treatment plant. However, Arroyo Canyon Matadero also has a similar storm drain, shown below. As mentioned already there are several huge storm drains in this area.
Floodgates in the fence
There are also floodgates built into the fences, which can be opened during times of rain to relieve pressure on the fence. The cartel can also cut these open. Well, they can cut a hole in the fence too, but opening floodgates is probably much easier.
The image below was taken at another location in Arizona, but shows what the flood gates look like. I also saw Mexican national guardsmen protecting floodgates like this to make sure no other asylum seekers enter. The Mexican National Guard does often coordinate with the Border Patrol when requested.
Tijuana River Crossing
I thought they may have walked into the area between the fences are the place where the Tijuana river crosses the border. The image below from Google Earth shows that the primary and secondary fences come together and are joined by a gate. There is a crew working on the fence in this place, but does not appear they entered the area between the fences at this point. However, there is a large gap in the fence where the river crosses the border.
The image below shows (in red) the quarter-mile gap in the fence across the Tijuana river channel at the border. Illegals can just walk along the river bed to cross the border without being hindered by any fence. Of course there will be Border Patrolmen waiting for them. However, if the want to claim asylum, this is exactly what they want, to surrender to a Border Patrolman. The Border Patrol is required by the Biden administration to continue the human smuggling operation by transporting the asylum poser to the station to make an asylum claim. From the Border Patrol station, our Government at different levels assists the asylum posers in traveling to their desired destination anywhere in the US they need to go. Government-funded nonprofits often provide camouflage, assisting in ways that the Government does not want to be seen doing directly.
It is difficult to engineer and build an effective border barrier in a place where a river crosses the border, because the river can wash the barrier away when it floods.
There is another location in Marron Valley on the east side of Tijuana, where the the Tijuana river meanders back and forth across the border. In Marron Valley, there is no border barrier at all for about 6-7 miles of relatively flat, walkable borderland.
