Troop Presence Expands at US-Mexico Border in California as Illegal Crossings Plummet

SAN DIEGO—The once-steady foot traffic from Tijuana, Mexico, to San Diego at the San Ysidro port of entry slowed to a trickle last week as stricter immigration reforms were imposed by the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump has issued a barrage of executive orders to end the Biden-era border crisis, tighten national security, and curb illegal immigration since his inauguration at noon on Jan. 20.

Normally, pedestrians entering the United States from Mexico can stand for hours in lines stretching for several blocks before reaching the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) checkpoints, but on Jan. 29, an Epoch Times photojournalist crossed the border from Mexico into the United States within about five minutes.

Customers were sparse for vendors selling snacks and small souvenirs along the way.

“Not busy at all today,” said one woman selling bottles of water told The Epoch Times. “Yesterday was the same.”

The San Ysidro port of entry is the busiest in the United States as well as the Western Hemisphere, with an average of 70,000 northbound vehicles and 20,000 northbound pedestrians crossing each day, in addition to southbound vehicular and foot traffic, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the Government Services Administration.

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An American citizen who lives in Tijuana and walks to work at a restaurant in San Deigo told The Epoch Times on the condition of anonymity that foot traffic has slowed substantially, and a U.S. Border Patrol agent said illegal border crossings have also slowed down dramatically.

Military Presence

Manny Bayon, National Border Patrol Council union San Diego president, said U.S. Marines were putting up layers of razor wire along the border along the east of the San Ysidro Port of Entry on Feb. 5.

“We’re just getting started,” he said. “We mean business. We have to protect the United States.”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s decision to send 10,000 Mexican National Guard troops “obviously indicates there is a problem and they’re going to try to fix on their end,” Bayon said.

“She says she has our back, so it’s nice to know that we have support that we’ve been long waiting for,” Bayon said. “We’re sending a message that we’re going to take care of our United States first.”

Nationwide, total apprehensions of illegal and inadmissible aliens in fiscal year 2024 were 2023—from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, were about 2.9 million. In 2023, there were 3.2 million, and in 2022 there were 2.8 million.

Border Patrol sources told The Epoch Times there were 864 illegal aliens in custody in the San Deigo sector on the morning of Feb. 3, more than half of the 1,538 nationwide total, which showed 209 from India, 207 from Guatemala, 185 from Mexico, and 143 from China.

Dozens of U.S. Marines placed coils of razor wire along the border wall separating Tijuana from San Diego on Jan. 31, making it more difficult to climb, but the military has kept “low visibility” in the area, according to The Associated Press.

The 1,500 troops—1,000 soldiers and 500 Marines who had previously been on standby in Southern California to potentially help combat the recent wildfires in Los Angeles County—were “put to work on the placement of physical barriers and other border missions,” according to a senior military official.

“The president directed me to take all appropriate action to support the activities of the secretary of homeland security in obtaining complete operational control of the southern border of the United States,” the statement reads.

The Pentagon has since established a joint task force to oversee the expedited implementation of border-related executive orders, with U.S. Northern Command heading up the effort and being supported by U.S. Transportation Command, the National Guard Bureau, military services, and the Department of Homeland Security.

With 2,500 active-duty personnel already in the region, the additional 1,500 troops represent a 60 percent increase in active-duty forces since Trump was sworn in, Salesses said.

In addition, DOD will provide airlift support for flights operated by DHS to implement the deportation of more than 5,000 individuals detained by CBP at the border sectors in San Diego and El Paso, Texas, he said.

“President Trump directed action from [DOD] on securing our nation’s borders and made clear he expects immediate results. That is exactly what our military is doing under his leadership,” Salesses said.

Resistance to Trump’s Orders

Between the primary and secondary border walls at one illegal crossing site, known as Whiskey 8, NGO tents operated by pro-immigrant advocacy groups such as Alliance San Diego were empty but still stocked with food and water for any potential illegal border crossers.

The alliance said the president’s pose a threat to immigrant communities and a threat to “our ability” to go to school, work, and visit families and neighbors in Tijuana.

“We also understand that these threats have always been present with an inhumane enforcement regime that never truly went away,” the letter reads.

The group says its mission is to protect human rights and “build our collective power in order to create an inclusive democracy centered on dignity” through “leadership development, community engagement, legal services, policy advocacy, and communications strategies.”

“We build coalitions, speak our truths, and mobilize people to hold bigots, billionaires, and bullies accountable at every level of government,” the letter reads.

Anti-ICE Protests

Meanwhile, protesters opposed to Trump’s executive orders calling for mass deportations regarding the U.S.-Mexico border have held demonstrations in National City, Escondido, downtown San Diego, and Los Angeles over the last few days, and more are expected.

Hundreds of protestors, some waving and draping themselves in Mexican flags blocked the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles on Feb. 2.

In Escondido, on Feb. 2, one demonstrator’s sign read, “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” Others read, “Nobody is illegal on stolen land,” “School is for education, not deportation,” “Borders are imaginary, people are real,” and “Borderz -R-Colonial.”

Audra Morgan, a San Diego County resident and a local activist who supports Trump’s deportation order, told The Epoch Times that more than 200 protesters held a peaceful protest in Escondido on Feb. 2.

While many of the protestors were carrying Mexican flags, Morgan said the border crisis is not just about Mexican nationals.

“They’re fighting to keep Mexicans, and I don’t think they fully grasp the truth about who’s coming across the border. They’re coming from all different countries. …It’s weird. …They’re not just coming after Mexicans.”

“I think that needed to happen, and now the Border Patrol can do their job,” she said.

Morgan expects federal grants to NGOs that are assisting illegal immigrants will soon dry up and hopes Trump will cut funding to sanctuary cities and counties.

“I think that’s great,” she said. “It’s important to cut these NGOs off right at the helm because they’re the ones facilitating the aiding and abetting. It’s like the government needs the people to do the dirty work. That’s why they always bring in NGOs … here’s no accountability.”

The former Biden administration, the NGOs, the state and county have been shifting the blame for the border crisis back and forth for four years, she said.

“Nobody is taking responsibility. They just want to pass the buck,” she said.

“But then they’re saying it’s a federal government’s problem,” she said. “It’s a lot of hocus pocus.”

Trump’s executive orders were needed to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States “while we can hopefully try and mitigate what’s happened,” Morgan said.

The Trump administration should concentrate its efforts on deporting criminal illegal aliens, “but at the same time, all these people have committed a federal offense by coming here, and they know it,” she said.

Amy Reichert, a local activist and co-founder of Restore San Diego, told The Epoch Times she has received “message after message of horrific vitriol” for suggesting protesters carry American flags rather than foreign ones.

“I don’t think that it would be very well received in Tijuana, for example, if hundreds of Americans waving American flags blocked the toll road down there,” she said. “These are open border people. They say that the border is imaginary, that Americans live on stolen land. I get messages that say ‘Make America Mexico Again’.”

The protests, she fears, are “going to further divide our country.”

People making arguments like “there’s no such thing as a border” or arguing that violent criminals should be protected are “ridiculous,” she said.

Reichert said her group’s main focus throughout the border crisis has been threats to national security and public safety caused by the Biden administration’s “open border” policies.

Even though many Americans are “overwhelmingly in support of deporting people who committed violent crimes,” Reichert doesn’t believe Trump will have enough support to deport all illegal immigrants.

She believes this despite Trump campaigning heavily during the election on ending the border crisis and the mass deportation of illegal migrants.

“I just don’t think most Americans have the stomach to deport every illegal immigrant,” she said.“ I just don’t think it’s going to happen. ”

El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells said in a Jan. 28 statement preceding an unsuccessful city council resolution he proposed in support of federal deportation efforts that public safety is his top concern.

“We will not be a haven for criminals, and we will do what is necessary to protect our residents,” Wells said, after recently meeting with Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar.

“For too long, California’s Sanctuary State policies have protected illegal criminals at the expense of law-abiding citizens. These policies prevent local law enforcement from cooperating with federal authorities, allowing dangerous individuals to remain in our community and country. That must change,” Wells said in the statement.

The resolution, which was defeated by a 3-2 vote on Jan. 28, would have allowed El Cajon police officers to work with federal immigration authorities to deport criminal aliens.

At her oath of office ceremony, Bondi vowed to “restore integrity in the justice system” and “make America safe again.”

Trump said she will be “very fair” and get fentanyl off the streets.

Bondi also directed the Department of Justice to withhold all federal funding for sanctuary cities.

John Fredricks contributed to this report.