San Diego’s new Border Patrol Chief, Justin De La Torre, is signalling a strategic shift in enforcement from the U.S.-Mexico border to the community’s interior following a significant decline in illegal border crossings. As reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune, De La Torre, who began his career with the Border Patrol at the Imperial Beach Station, has returned to San Diego County, where he will oversee around 2,000 agents across the 60-mile boundary with Mexico and the entire California coastline.
During a recent media roundtable, De La Torre noted that the San Diego sector witnessed only 960 migrant encounters last month, which represents a staggering 93% decrease when compared to October 2024; this has permitted a shift in resource allocation, enabling agents now to patrol more liberally not just along the border but also further north into San Diego County communities which has been observed by community groups and confirmed by De La Torre who spoke of an increased visible presence of Border Patrol agents in these areas, according to information obtained by ABC 10News.
The former Chief Patrol Agent in the Yuma Sector, De La Torre, in an interview with ABC 10News, also addressed how the downward trend in illegal border crossings reflects on the complex nature of human smuggling, highlighting the tragically high costs paid by individuals to cartels, averaging $10,000, with maritime smuggling rates even steeper at approximately $15,000 per person. These arrangements often force individuals into debt with the cartels, a situation they work to resolve, sometimes for months or even years, once they arrive in the United States…