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 Travel & Outdoors | May 2008 
Vehicles Headed to Mexico Inspected
 Leslie Berestein & Sandra Dibble - San Diego Union-Tribune
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| | Cars line up to cross into the U.S. at the San Ysidro border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP/Guillermo Arias) | | |
Southbound lanes of Interstate 5 were snarled for several hours yesterday at the San Ysidro port of entry as federal agents inspected vehicles headed into Mexico.
The inspections are being carried out by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in conjunction with other federal agencies, as well as local agencies.
Border Patrol agents were on hand yesterday with vans to hold detained individuals.
“They are looking for stolen cars, any kind of arms or weapons or contraband that is heading south, as well as foot guides, coyotes that smuggle people across, as well as smugglers that have large amounts of cash on them,” said Alejandro Renteria, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's San Diego sector. “In the process, they are going to come across illegal aliens.”
Renteria said that “people have been arrested,” but would not cite figures.
While periodic southbound inspections for contraband have occurred for years, a recent increase in frequency, coupled with the fact that officers have been boarding southbound buses carrying Mexican travelers, has prompted concerns from Mexican officials.
After an inspection last Friday, the Mexican consulate in San Diego sent a letter to Customs and Border Protection officials requesting information on the operations and about Mexican nationals detained.
Officers look for specific vehicles that arouse suspicion, Renteria said. The main reason for boarding buses is not to arrest illegal immigrants, he said, but to find contraband, such as smuggling proceeds and guns.
However, he said, officers boarding buses do conduct immigration inspections.
“Just because they're leaving the country, they are still in the country illegally, and we can't turn a blind eye,” he said.
Customs and Border Protection officials would not say to what degree outbound inspections have been stepped up. However, observers on both the U.S. and Mexican sides of the border have noticed an increase.
A bus from Turimex, a company that operates routes between Los Angeles and Tijuana, was pulled over yesterday afternoon. Ana Lopez, a worker at the company's San Ysidro office, said Turimex buses have been pulled over three times since last week so agents could go aboard.
“Before, they never boarded our buses,” she said.
Arrested individuals are processed and returned to Mexico by immigration authorities, Renteria said, and a record is made of their illegal presence. Anyone found with a criminal record is held in the United States.
In recent months, repatriations of Mexican nationals have been on the rise locally, Mexico's National Immigration Institute said. A total of 81,216 people were removed through the San Ysidro-Puerta Mexico gate between January and April of this year, compared with 59,991 for the same period in 2007.
Leslie Berestein: leslie.berestein(at)uniontrib.com |
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