Windblown wall, longest smuggling tunnel mark borders of endless drama
A covered access point leading to a smuggling tunnel is seen Wednesday on the San Diego side of the U.S.-Mexico border wall. Credit: AP / Elliot Spagat
A minor incident in Calexico, California, this week fueled some easy irony on social media.
High winds blew down several sections of new barrier fence along the southwestern border. They fell into Mexican territory. Panels of steel bollards, 30 feet high, were sunk into concrete that had not yet hardened, according to news accounts.
No injuries or property damage were reported. “Luckily, Mexican authorities responded quickly and were able to divert traffic from the nearby street,” Border Patrol agent Carlos Pitones told The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Two hours to the west, officials this week revealed last year's discovery of a three-quarter-mile smuggling tunnel from an industrial site in Tijuana, Mexico, to the San Diego area. It had rail carts, a ventilation system, electric fixtures, an elevator at the entrance and drains.
Despite all of President Donald Trump's warnings about migrant caravans and contorted budgeting to fund wall construction, the south-of-the-border underground seemed to be holding its own "infrastructure week" on U.S. soil.
Following the discovery in August, Mexican law enforcement identified the entrance and U.S. investigators mapped the tunnel that extends 4,309 feet, according to Customs and Border Protection. The next-longest tunnel into the U.S. was discovered in San Diego in 2014. It was 2,966 feet long.
"This one blows past" the second-largest, Lance LeNoir, a Border Patrol operations supervisor, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "We never really thought they had the moxie to go that far. They continue to surprise me."
The newest tunnel, known to authorities as a "gopher hole," is about 5.5 feet tall and 2 feet wide and runs 70 feet underneath the surface.
There may be progress in the government's fight against illegal border crossings.
The number of migrants arrested along the U.S.-Mexico border has started to level off after several straight months of decline, according to official numbers.
The number of people apprehended or deemed “inadmissible” along the border fell to 40,620 last month, down 72% from May, The Washington Post reported.
The number of border enforcement actions last month was roughly on par with December 2017, the Post reported.
Arrests and seizures of narcotics such as fentanyl are reported to be on the rise.
Earlier this month, a federal appeals court approved Trump's use of military construction funds to help build the barriers, which, contrary to the president's public statements, has proceeded slowly.
The part about having Mexico pay for everything also is largely forgotten. But the government there has been pushing efforts to turn back migrants fleeing violence and poverty in Guatemala and elsewhere in Central America.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
