A disturbing video caught by a YouTuber shows dozens of illegal Central American migrants cutting and kicking their way through a portion of border barrier on the beach between Mexico and the United States. If you choose to watch the video be warned that there is foul language throughout. The action begins about two hours and 38 minutes into the video.
YouTuber Andy Martin caught the border breach while livestreaming his visit to Tijuana, Mexico. Also known as “Mexican Andy,” Martin was on the beach at Border Field State Park when he noticed people gathering at a stretch of the border barrier near the Pacific Ocean. The incident occurred last Thursday at approximately 4 p.m. local time.
In the dramatic footage, one person can be seen cutting through chain-link fencing attached to graffiti-marred bollard fencing. As the gap widens, migrants, including many children, begin literally squeezing through the barrier and running past a lone border patrol SUV, which is parked on the beach.
“They’re all coming here all of a sudden,” Martin said as he witnessed people approach the barrier. “Where’s everybody coming from?”
As the breach occurs, Martin shouts, “They crossed the wall! They crossed the border!”
According to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol in San Diego, the migrants were able to exploit a small portion of fencing that had been corroded by the salt water of the adjacent Pacific Ocean. The border patrol tweeted out their own video of the incident.
“Video captured 3/14 shows an illegal crossing of Central American migrants. None of the 52 people surrendered to the USBP agent on the beach. All 52 people were eventually arrested after a two-hour foot chase with multiple agents. Once in custody, everyone claimed asylum.”
Border Patrol reported that there were actually two groups of migrants crossing illegally, the one seen on the video and another at the other end of the state park. As agents began to pursue one group, the second group pushed through.
Prior to the breach, Martin walks along the fence pointing out a gap in the barrier and showing a lone border patrol vehicle in the distance.
Because of the dramatic video, the incident has received a great deal of exposure in the media, but this is just one episode in the daily struggle the Border Patrol faces as they attempt to keep the flow of illegal immigrants and narcotics from coming into America.
For instance, the day after this incident, Border Patrol agents in Texas arrested a previously deported sex offender after he illegally entered the United States near Rocksprings, Texas.
On March 8, Border Patrol agents arrested a group of six men near Imperial Beach, California. One of them was Mexican national Antonio Santiago-Ruiz, who is wanted for homicide in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
On March 14 near Temecula, California, Border Patrol agents arrested two drug smugglers with more than $600,000 worth of methamphetamine, cocaine, and black tar heroin stashed in their vehicle.
“Violent criminals continue to illegally cross the border to make their way further into the United States,” said Acting Chief Patrol Agent Matthew J. Hudack in Del Rio, Texas. “Our agents are committed to preventing these types of criminals from entering and harming our communities,”
Read the Border Patrol media releases for just one week and you will begin to understand some of what President Trump is talking about when he calls the situation on the southern border a crisis and an emergency.
Unfortunately, the emergencies described in the press releases of the Border Patrol have become so commonplace that we don’t even notice them anymore. Like a terrible odor that you’ve gone nose blind to, the situation on the border is something many Americans have grown accustomed to, but it is definitely something we need to take care of.
YouTuber Andy Martin happened to record video of a border breach while he was visiting a beach near Tijuana. Was Martin just in the right place at the right time, or that this is the type of thing that happens continually, and we’ve just gotten used it?
These incidents should not be everyday occurrences on our border and in our country. We have both the right and responsibility to shore up the entrance into the United States. No solution is perfect, and any border barrier might be breached, given the cunning and determination of those who wish to cross it. But to not even attempt to build more barriers on our porous Southern border is to be derelict in the defense of our nation.
Image: screenshot from YouTube video
