San Diego has become the epicenter for illegal immigration as routes shift with Texas crackdown

San Diego has become the new epicenter of unlawful immigration in the United States, with Border Patrol confirming the sector is now the busiest among the nine in which the southern border is divided.

County Supervisor Jim Desmond said that on a single day last week authorities apprehended 2,000 people crossing within the sector.

San Diego being the busiest border area is something that hadn't happened since the 1990s, he added. Overall, it has recorded almost 215,000 apprehensions during the current fiscal year, which began in October.

A Border Patrol spokesperson added that the area is averaging over 1,000 illegal entries a day, reaching a total of almost 34,000 in March. Considering that Border Patrol reported some 137,000 apprehensions in March, this means that almost a quarter of the total were recorded 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.

Desmond was also critical of California's status as a "sanctuary state," saying it "prohibits law enforcement from cooperating with immigration officials, hindering our ability to address these issues effectively."

Migratory routes in the U.S. have been shifting over the past months, especially as Texas authorities increase their crackdown on unlawful immigration with measures aimed at not letting people get to their ports of entry.

More migrants were encountered by Border Patrol agents outside of Texas each of the first three months of this year, according to the Texas Tribune. During the 2023 fiscal year, Texas on average accounted for roughly 59% of migrant encounters along the southwest border. During the first half of the 2024 fiscal year, which began in October, Texas has on average accounted for 43% of migrant encounters.

Arizona was also at the top of the areas recording migrant encounters this year, with authorities arresting over a quarter million people by late February. The Tucson sector has been the busiest, with new figures showing close to 350,000 apprehensions so far this fiscal year.