SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The number of illegal crossings along the San Diego coastline are up, according to Roberto B. Domínguez Jr., acting deputy chief of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
During a news conference on Tuesday, he told reporters the increased military presence and border wall infrastructure in the area are pushing migrants into the ocean for unlawful crossings.
“The metropolitan San Diego and Tijuana area is considered one of the most problematic zones due to the high number of illegal crossings,” Domínguez said. “What we are seeing, as we close down the border, build more of the wall, deploy National Guard troops, we’re seeing more traffic in the maritime environment, we see more people on pangas.”
He told reporters the coast has additional members of the military working to stop these crossings, and also mentioned working in conjunction with Mexico’s Secretary of Marine Operations.
Domínguez said CBP’s efforts and new strategy are working to curtail the number of illegal crossings.
He mentioned that in Fiscal Year 2024, the U.S. Border Patrol made 1.5 million arrests along the southern border, but that only 250,000 arrests were made in FY 2025.
Despite the significant drop in border arrests, the Border Patrol in July reported maritime smuggling events were on par with previous years with no significant increase.
Border Report reached out to CBP asking for statistics to see if this has changed in recent months as stated by Domínguez.
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