California CBP Officers Stop Illegal Entry Attempts

C.B.P. News Release

California CBP Officers Stop Illegal Entry Attempts

January 27, 2011

San Diego — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, charged with securing the border at every legal port of entry into the country, enforce hundreds of laws, including immigration laws, hundreds of times each day along the California/Mexico border. On Wednesday, January 26, CBP officers in these locations stopped attempts to enter the country illegally using a variety of common methods, such as attempting to enter the country by avoiding inspection, and using legal documents that belong to someone else.

Just before 5 a.m., CBP officers were inspecting a rail car entering the United States from Mexico at the international train crossing near Calexico, Calif. Using an imaging device, similar to an x-ray, CBP officers spotted an anomaly with the train, and stopped it for a closer inspection. CBP officers found a 60-year-old male resident of Mexicali, hiding on the train, attempting to enter the United States illegally.

At about 10:30 a.m., a 48-year-old female resident of Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, walked to the San Ysidro port of entry and presented the CBP officer with a border crossing card. The CBP officer suspected that the person presenting the card was not the true owner, and was instead an imposter, and referred her aside for further inspection. Using fingerprint identification, CBP officers confirmed that the woman was not the lawful owner of the card. CBP officers arrested the woman; she was booked into the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

At about 3 p.m., CBP officers at the San Ysidro port of entry caught a 20-year-old man trying to run up the vehicle lanes and past CBP officers to enter the United States without inspection.

At about 6:30 p.m., two men on bicycles, 27 and 21 years of age, tried to rush past officers at the Otay Mesa passenger port of entry. CBP officers gave pursuit, and one man remained on his bicycle, while the second jumped off and tried to escape on foot. Both men were stopped before being able to leave port property onto highways in the U.S.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Contacts For This News Release
Jackie Dizdul
CBP Public Affairs
Phone: (619) 744-5245

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/new ... 2011_3.xml