There have been major changes at the border since President Donald Trump took office. For the first time, border patrol and the military took questions about their efforts here in San Diego. NBC 7’s Shelby Bremer was at the meeting in San Ysidro and has the latest.
For the first time since President Donald Trump took office, officials with both Border Patrol and the U.S. Department of Defense on Friday took questions about their joint operations to secure the border in San Diego, touting a drop in migrant apprehensions as they reiterated the new administration's message of deterrence.
“Let me be perfectly clear: the border is closed. If you cross illegally here in San Diego sector, you will face consequences,” said San Diego Sector’s Acting Chief Jeffrey Stalnaker. “We will leverage all legal authorities and take every reasonable step to ensure illegal aliens are placed in detention and removed from the country.”
Border Patrol said the San Diego Sector’s 60 miles make up just 3% of the total southwest border but ended the last fiscal year with more than 324,000 apprehensions. Halfway through the current fiscal year, the agency said the sector remains the busiest in the country but has seen just over 43,000 apprehensions – a 70% drop.
At this time last year, the agency said the area was averaging about 1,200 to 1,400 apprehensions a day, Stalnaker calling it “a level of activity we had not seen in over two decades."
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While those numbers began to fall last summer, that figure is now down to roughly 30 to 40 a day, Border Patrol said.
“To say there has been a dramatic change would be an understatement,” Stalnaker said, adding that the drop prompted Border Patrol to shutter its temporary migrant processing facility in Otay Mesa just days earlier.
“Since the numbers are lower, we're able to now handle that amount of activity at our border patrol stations,” Stalnaker said.
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About 750 members of the military have been stationed in San Diego to work with Border Patrol, arriving shortly after Trump declared a national emergency at the border on day one.
The military personnel have reinforced the 30-foot walls with concertina wire at the top and bottom for six miles between Otay Mesa and San Ysidro, ultimately looking to cover 20 miles total.
“Nothing that’s designed to kill or maim,” Lt. Col. Tyrone Barrion said, likening the spiral-shaped, jagged wire to a thorn bush. “The idea of deterrence is that they don’t want to deal with the time or hassle with moving or touching the wire and therefore they would be deterred to go somewhere else, rather than here.”
Members of the military are also manning Border Patrol’s surveillance cameras 24/7, the agencies said.
When asked about the message the concertina wire sends, as the administration repeatedly emphasizes deterrence, Barrion paused.
“That’s a heavy question,” he said, pausing before further responding.
“We in the U.S. military are responsible for following the orders and directions of the commander in chief, which is the president of the United States. Therefore, we follow our orders and directions, and anybody is welcome to their policies or their opinions on what that might be,” Barrion said, adding that his unit was strictly dedicated to engineering of the wire. “It's not my position to make opinions. It's my position to follow the directions of my commander in chief.”
When asked about justifying the military presence and infusion of resources at the border, given that encounters have been falling since mid-2024, Border Patrol said the effort is a “whole government approach.”
“I think it's important for every nation to have a secure border,” said San Diego Sector Special Operations Supervisor Eric Lavergne said. “It's one team, one fight, right? We all want to protect America. We all want to protect the border. So working together, I believe is the best way.”
Lavergne said the military has been at the border before but added, “maybe the scale is new for everyone to see.”
He again pointed to the administration’s message of deterrence.
“Do not put your life in danger trying to cross illegally. Do not come that way. If you want to come to United States, we’re for migration, but apply in your country, go to the ports of entry. Do not cross in between. Do not break the law to get here,” Lavergne said.
When asked how he contended that the federal government is “for migration,” given that the administration has eliminated several avenues, Lavergne said, “The government wants consequences for those who cross illegally. But they still want those who are coming correctly, following the laws. They still want the people to come. We still need people to come.”
“You can still apply at the embassy in your country. It's going to take time,” he continued. “I think we're all well aware that it's going to take time, but that's still the correct method.”
When asked how long military personnel will remain at the border in San Diego, Stalnaker said he had not been notified of an end date.
