New Border Patrol Facility Opens

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By Miriam Raftery

Border Facility Opens
New Campo Border Patrol facility (photo credit: Leon Thompson)

Public reactions varied to a new Border Patrol/Homeland Security facility in East County varied sharply.

One local conservative blogger thought it was a casino under construction, adding that it resembled “a palace.”

But an immigrant rights supporter observed, “It looks like a prison.”

Beauty, it appears, is in the eye of the beholder.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house were held August 8th at the new Campo Border Patrol Station, which despite its name is located on Old Highway 80 in Pine Valley, not Campo.  The facility replaces an older Border Patrol Station on Forrest Gate Road.

Public tours were provided of the $34 million, 33-acre facility, constructed by Jordan-BE&K Federal Group.  The new 45,000 square-foot station has capacity to accommodate 350 Border Patrol Agents and includes a vehicle maintenance garage, water storage, armory, emergency generator, gym, canine training facilities, meeting rooms, and state-of-the-art processing facilities.

Border Patrol Agent J. Espinoza
Agent J. Espinoza demonstrates electronic fingerprinting system

Barbed wire-topped fencing surrounds the enclave, which has Homeland Security surveillance cameras inside and outside with real-time monitoring from a control room equipped with flat-panel LCD screens.           

Border Patrol Agent J. Espinoza demonstrated an electronic fingerprinting system (no more inky thumbprints).  “If someone has been deported before, it comes up yellow,” he said, pointing to a computer screen.  “If they’ve been arrested anywhere in the U.S., their names will pop up in blue or red.”  Those with criminal records may face prosecution, he added.

Special Interest Aliens (SIAs) from countries such as Saudi Arabia or Iraq are turned over to other federal authorities, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation  (FBI) or Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) for questioning. 

Asked how often local Border Patrol agents have intercepted SIAs, Espinoza replied, “We’ve had them from Somalia, Iraq, Iraq, Brazil, Saudi Arabia.”

The new facility has individual and group holding cells capable of holding about 300 detainees, said Supervisory Border Patrol Agent R. Marzec.  Agents headquartered at the Campo station pick up an average of 150 people per day who have crossed the border illegally, he said.

Often, immigrants are misled by human traffickers (coyotes) and realize they are over their heads in rugged desert or mountain terrain without adequate water or food.  “The coyotes will tell them anything,” said Border Patrol Agent Rahman.  “They’ll tell them it’s just a short walk over the border.” 

Border Facility

Agent shows off S.W.A.T.-type weaponry at open house

Most immigrants with no criminal records are returned to Mexico, usually within 24 hours, according to Border Patrol authorities.  Some immigrants picked up in immigration raids and transported downtown may choose to fight deportation orders, particularly when they are living here with their families.  “Downtown, sometimes they sit there for a week or a month,” Espinoza noted.

The facility has trained first-responders on-site as well as emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to provide medical care to immigrants, when needed.

Supervisor Dianne Jacob attended the opening ceremony.  At the open house, Special Response Team weaponry was on display.  Public tours were held and kids interacted with Agent KC, a robot used by the Border Patrol for recruiting purposes.

“Is that a legal alien?” one visitor quipped upon seeing the talking robot, which resembled a combination of ET and R2D2.

Border Facility

Barbed wire and security cameras surround facility

(photo credit: Miriam Raftery)

O.W. Morey has owned property adjacent to the new station since 1965.  “I helped them come in,” he said of the Border Patrol. Before the station was built, he said, he often had border crossers on his property. Pointing to an outdoor restroom, he recalled, “I opened that restroom door one day and there were 17 of them,” he said, adding that he’s had no immigrants on his property since the Border Patrol facility opened up.     

Not everyone shares Morey’s enthusiasm for the new facility.

“It’s part of an overall strategy of increased enforcement and militarization of the border region,” said John Fanestil, executive director of Foundation for Change in San Diego.  “It may solve some local problems for a few local residents, but it does nothing to solve the larger problems of migration between the two countries.”

Fanestil called for comprehensive immigration reforms.  “Clamping down on patterns of migration that go back decades won’t stop people from seeking to enter the United States and in fact, will encourage them to stay here permanently once they get in.”

Border Facility
Facility can hold up to 300 detainees in individual and group holding cells

(photo credit: Miriam Raftery)

Construction of a border wall and other enforcement efforts that make it more difficult to enter or reenter the U.S. will result in Mexican people “seeking to enter permanently and bring their families to join them,” he predicted. “As long as economic need persists, the northward patterns of migration will persist. The real question is how can we humanize those patterns of migration?”

Fanestil pointed out that the wealthy can obtain tourist visas, border crossing cards or local passports to enter the U.S. legally from Mexico, while poor Mexicans have no way to apply for legal entry.  “All of those things require that you have some resources, and the Border Patrol assesses that you’re likely to return to Mexico,” he explained.  “But if you don’t have resources and you can’t feed your family, there is no option but to seek to migrate. It’s not a choice people make light-heartedly. They make it out of dire circumstance.”


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