When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott started Operation Lone Star more than three years ago, no one could have believed that Texas would crack down on illegal immigration on its own without the proper help from the federal government. But that’s now a reality, and the epicenter of illegal immigration in the United States has shifted to the deep blue sanctuary state of California, adding just another layer of serious issues for the California Democratic leadership to focus on amid the ongoing crisis. And things, according to experts, are set to get worse in the months to come.
A shifting trend
In the last few months, Texas has managed to curb illegal immigration with the help of other Republican-led states and the implementation of various controversial measures as part of Operation Lone Star. Along the border with Mexico, Texas is seeing a drastic drop in encounters with migrants across all border sectors. With thousands of troops actively monitoring the Texas border, the border wall, and hundreds of miles of razor wire and water barriers, illegal immigrants have shifted towards other states with less security and easier entry into the country.
California is becoming an immigration epicenter
San Diego has emerged as the primary hotspot for illegal immigration in the U.S., with the Border Patrol indicating that this sector is now the most active of the nine sectors along the southern border. According to County Supervisor Jim Desmond, last week saw the apprehension of 2,000 individuals in a single day within this sector. This level of activity has not been seen since the 1990s, Desmond noted. Since October, the start of the current fiscal year, there have been nearly 215,000 apprehensions.
The path of least resistance
A spokesperson for the Border Patrol mentioned that the sector is seeing more than 1,000 illegal entries daily, with nearly 34,000 in March alone. Out of approximately 137,000 total apprehensions in March across all sectors, about a quarter occurred in San Diego.
“Human smugglers have identified California, particularly the San Diego border sector, as the path of least resistance for illegal immigration,” Desmond said in a news release issued by his office last week. “Border Patrol has inadvertently become the ‘Uber’ for migrants entering San Diego County, and the County is the travel agent,” he added.
Read also: As thousands of migrants arrive in California, local residents are buying guns like never before
A “sanctuary state”
Desmond also criticized California’s status as a “sanctuary state,” which he says prevents local law enforcement from working with immigration officials, making it more difficult to effectively manage immigration issues. Migratory patterns in the U.S. have shifted recently, particularly as Texas intensifies its efforts to curb illegal immigration. This includes measures to prevent individuals from reaching their ports of entry.
Texas cracking down on illegal immigration
According to the Texas Tribune, more migrants have been encountered by Border Patrol agents outside of Texas in the first three months of this year than in previous periods. In the 2023 fiscal year, Texas was the location for about 59% of all migrant encounters along the southwest border. However, in the first half of the 2024 fiscal year, starting in October, Texas’s share has dropped to 43%.
Read also: The California system is overwhelmed by migrants and homeless: “Everything is already full…”
Arizona is “holding the lead”
This year, Arizona has seen the highest number of migrant encounters, with authorities arresting over a quarter million people by late February. The Tucson sector is the most active, with recent data indicating about 350,000 apprehensions so far in this fiscal year.
