One of Southern California's largest wildfires has frightened many illegal immigrants from hiking through a popular corridor to cross from Mexico even as the Border Patrol has withdrawn some agents.
Some consider the Border Patrol's pullback an opportunity, but a three-hour drive through ash-covered hills Tuesday suggests that many others are staying put in Mexico.
"They're holding back," Mark Mahler, a Border Patrol agent, said as he kept watch over an evacuated highway checkpoint that was closed Monday on State Route 94. The checkpoint on the two-lane highway, which narrowly escaped damage, is normally a major obstacle for illegal crossers.
The fire left miles of black ash in the canyons around Dulzura, an evacuated hamlet about 25 miles east of San Diego, where dozens of homes were destroyed. Thousands of foot trails once covered by dense shrub were laid bare.
Road closures due to the fire meant migrants could not meet drivers, Mahler said. Typically, migrants pay about $1,500 each to be guided through rugged canyons for hours, even days, and be picked up by someone at a roadside checkpoint for the drive to San Diego.
Many illegal immigrants appeared to heed the advice of the Border Patrol and the Mexican government, aired on television and radio in Tijuana, Mexico, to stay away from the fires. The Border Patrol radio was unusually quiet Tuesday. Its motion sensors laced throughout the canyons, which escaped damaged, did not set alarms.
Some illegal immigrants, however, took the risk.
About 50 migrants have surrendered to the Border Patrol since the fires began Sunday, fearing for their safety. One was seriously burned Monday when he and five others sought help from firefighters and they were all taken to a San Diego hospital, according to the Mexican consulate in San Diego. No deaths have been reported.
Some of the six migrants who were rescued by firefighters Monday told Mexican authorities that smugglers convinced them the Border Patrol would be distracted, said Alberto Lozano, a spokesman for the Mexican consulate in San Diego.
"The smugglers see the opportunity," Joe Mason, a Border Patrol field operations supervisor, said as his truck wound through the bald canyons. "They figure there's a good chance that the Border Patrol's not around."
The federal agency has reassigned about 115 agents on each shift to help with the fires, directing traffic and knocking on doors to evacuate homes in the San Diego area. Agents also rescued 53 horses.
About 200 of the 600 National Guard troops who normally help patrol California's border with Mexico also were reassigned to assist with fires further north.
That left the steep hills on the border relatively unattended, and some illegal immigrants apparently took advantage. There was a trail of fresh footprints through one ash-blanketed canyon Tuesday.
The Harris Fire, which has burned 70,000 acres, will almost certainly cause migrants to rethink whether it makes sense to cross in the area. Mahler said the exposed hillsides mean migrants can no longer hide in the thick brush.
"Sometimes fire makes our job a little easier, I hate to say it," he said.
