If controls on the U.S.-Mexico border are heightened further, as those who support the tough immigration law in Arizona are demanding, the obvious question is: Where else will illegal immigrants attempt to enter the United States?
One logical method is by sea.
While the numbers are still tiny compared to land crossings, smuggling off the California coast is on the rise. And human smuggling is becoming intertwined with drug smuggling as well.
Photo by Customs and Border ProtectionMexican fishing boat used to smuggle illegal immigrants.
"We are interdicting more smuggling at sea, both in terms of people trying to cross illegally into the U.S., and people trying to bring in illegal contraband," said Jacqueline Dizdul, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Over the years, illegal immigrants coming in by sea have typically landed in Imperial Beach, right on the U.S.-Mexico border. But increasingly they are now landing at several points further north in San Diego County, including the famed Torrey Pines State Reserve.
In fiscal year 2008-09 (Oct. 1 through Sept. 30), about 430 people were arrested for attempting to come into California by sea or for ocean-going drug smuggling, nearly twice the 230 apprehended the previous year, according to figures from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Last month, the Border Patrol apprehended a boat off San Onofre State Beach in northern San Diego County carrying 23 suspected illegal immigrants. This was the sixth ocean smuggling attempt in six days.
This followed the March interception of another boat carrying 17 illegal immigrants off the San Diego coastline near Encinitas.
Customs and Border Patroly's Dizdul told me that there are two ways migrants try to enter California by sea. One is by trying to "blend in" to the maritime environment by using regular fishing boats. Another is to use small Mexican fishing boats – wooden or fibre glass boats known as pangas – 15 to 22 feet long, outfitted with an outboard motor. They are launched from somewhere on the Baja Peninsula, most likely Rosarito, typically at night, without lights, and often piloted by someone with little ocean going experience.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement reports that at least two people have died in these smuggling attempts, the first such drownings that authorities are aware of. In some cases, drugs are also being smuggled in the boats along with their human cargo.
Attempts to get into California by sea are apparently a response to increased controls on the San Diego sector of the border – beginning in 2006 with Operation Jump Start – and elsewhere. The increased demand has jacked up the price as well, from $900 three years ago to $4000 to $5000 today, according to Border Patrol officials.
Enforcement agencies have acknowledged how difficult it is to spot boats at night – posing significant challenges to the multiple agencies patrolling the California coastline, including Customs and Border Protection's San Diego Marine Interdiction Unit and its Office of Air and Marine, the U.S. Coastguard, the Border Patrol, and even county agencies.
It is impossible to know how many illegal immigrants have been able to get through this web of ocean enforcement. What seems likely is that more of them will try.
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