Border Patrol Leader: Agents Feel Welcome in Capistrano

March 08, 2010

By Jonathan Volzke, The Capistrano Dispatch

Border Patrol agents feel welcome in the city of San Juan Capistrano, but regular patrols of inland cities for men and women who entered in the country illegally is not the agency’s focus right now, a Border Patrol official said this month.

Meeting with Mayor Lon Uso, Councilman Sam Allevato, OC Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Dwyer and City Manager Joe Tait on Thursday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Patrol Agent in Charge Alfaro Gonzales said his agency is now focused on stopping illegal immigrants and criminals at the border. The agency checks transit stations—like Capistrano’s train stop—and other areas, but most often in relation to investigations into immigration smugglers.

Gonzales said he requested the meeting with city officials after seeing newspaper reports that merchants in Alipaz Plaza—at Alipaz and Del Obispo Street—told Uso that routine checks by the Border Patrol scare away customers. In the article, Uso was quoted as saying the city does not influence the Border Patrol—but the Mayor seemed to get hit from both sides. Some said the city should stop any Border Patrol incursions, while others, who contend Capistrano is a “Sanctuary Cityâ€