Illegal Aliens Fearful of Border Bandits, Patrol

The man with the calloused hands and brown, leathery face was incredulous and almost offended by the question. He was sitting in the sun on the “soccer field” with a small group of men waiting for darkness--and for another attempt to head north undetected by the Border Patrol or without being robbed by bandits.

The man, who was returning to his job at an orchard in Paradise, north of Sacramento, had been asked if he was not afraid of being robbed, or possibly killed, by Mexican bandits who wait in the canyons that straddle the international border.

“We were robbed three days ago. I only lost about $30, but one fellow lost almost $500. Another man was beaten on the head with a club and he decided to return to Guanajuato. And the night before we were chased back by the Border Patrol, in the dark, and a man broke his foot. And you want to know if I’m scared? Well, yes, but hunger is worse,” he said in Spanish.

U.S. officials say that the soccer field--a barren, bottle-strewn hilltop that lies about 300 yards inside U.S. territory where aliens mass before leaving for the north--has its own dangers. But it is not nearly as dangerous as the border canyons that the aliens have to traverse during their journey north.

The 10-square-mile area along the border that stretches from the San Ysidro port of entry east to the Tijuana airport is the area on the Mexican border most heavily used by illegal aliens. This section of the border is crisscrossed by canyons, and the soccer field lies roughly midway between San Ysidro and the airport.

It is in this area, U.S. officials say, where the pollos , the aliens, are most likely to be robbed, beaten, raped or murdered by the asalta pollos , the bandits. Border Patrol Chief Agent Alan Eliason said that immigration officials have detected a marked increase in violence along this strip in the last two years. And recent events along the border seem to prove him right. Last week one agent was wounded and a bandit was killed in a shoot-out with members of the Border Crimes Prevention Unit.

Eliason and other officials are quick to point to statistics to convince skeptics that the border is more violent these days.

But Tijuana residents and the aliens who cross the border laugh when told about these figures. They say that the Americans have only recently realized what they have known all along--the border is a dangerous place at night.

So far this year there have been three shooting incidents between the border unit, which patrols the canyons at night, and border bandits. One bandit has been killed, two have been wounded and one Border Patrol officer has been wounded in these gunfights. Last year the border unit, which is composed of Border Patrol agents and San Diego policemen, was involved in five shootings. Two Border Patrol agents were wounded in those incidents and one bandit was killed.

“It’s quite literally a war zone down there,” Eliason said. “The general, overall level of violence has increased. We’re not just talking about assaults on our officers, but assaults on illegal aliens by border bandits. Rock throwing, for example, has become so common. Typically, a rock throwing incident is no longer reported unless it results in injury to an officer or damage to his vehicle.”

Last month, agent Edward (Ned) Cole fired his service revolver across the border, wounding a 12-year-old Mexican boy who was among a group of people allegedly throwing rocks and bottles across the fence at Cole and two other agents.

According to San Diego police statistics, in 1984 there were 491 reported incidents of violence, more than one a day, involving illegal aliens along the international border. Included among the statistics were 39 aliens injured, 13 rapes and 3 murder victims. Since 1974, when police started keeping statistics on border crimes, 42 aliens have been found slain in the canyons. Police have arrested only eight suspects in these killings.

Between Jan. 1 and April 10 of this year, police reported that 96 aliens were victimized by bandits. Thirty-six people were robbed, three were killed and one woman was raped.

These figures only represent the tip of the iceberg, police Lt. Jim Clain said.

“The problem is that aliens don’t report crimes unless they’re caught by the Border Patrol,” he said. “These people accept the robberies, rapes and murders as part of the price they have to pay for coming across the border. We really don’t know what’s out there.”

U.S. immigration officials blame the increase in border violence on the growing numbers of aliens entering this country. This large influx, immigration officials say, provides a larger pool of victims for the bandits.

But the aliens themselves and Mexican residents of Colonia Libertad, a teeming barrio carved out of a Tijuana hill that faces the U.S. border, say that violence in the canyons and along the border fence is nothing new.

“I’ve lived here all my life. And ever since I can remember we’ve heard gunshots, screams and people fighting in those canyons at night,” said Nicolas Saldivar, 19. “Violence is nothing new. There are people from this colonia who go out there at night and rob. But most bandits come from other parts of Tijuana to rob los pollos in the canyons.”

Saldivar and a friend, Samuel Sanchez Encinas, said that local residents have also become accustomed to the bodies occasionally recovered by U.S. officials in the canyons and hillsides.

“I guess you can say that in a way we have become desensitized,” Sanchez said. “But we know the routine when a body is found in the morning. La migra comes out in several vehicles and they fan out to search the area. The body isn’t moved until the search is completed, and then they load the dead guy in a vehicle. People used to come out of their houses to watch these events. But not any more. It happens so often, it’s no longer a novelty.”

Recently, Jose Mendoza told a reporter about the dangers an alien encounters in the canyons at night. According to Mendoza and several other aliens interviewed on the soccer field, the danger stems from the bandits and the Border Patrol, which they call la migra .

“Last year my partner and I joined a group of 10 men who was being led across by a guide,” Mendoza said. “I guess we walked for about 15 minutes before we were robbed. Three guys jumped out of the bushes and started beating people. I can’t prove it, but I bet the guide deliberately led us to the bandits.

“Now, we have to worry about the bandits and la migra. La migra has become too aggressive. They try to run you over with their vehicles. And last night one guy was stepped on by a horse. La migra on the horse forced the horse on the guy and the animal broke his foot. He’s in the United States now, but with a broken foot and probably in jail.”

Police Sgt. Chuck Woodruff, a member of the border crime unit, said that some guides who are paid to lead groups of aliens across the border are actually working with the bandits. These people make it easier to victimize the aliens, Woodruff said.

“The guides will lead them to the bandits,” he said. “The bad guys will jump out of the bushes and beat the nearest alien, usually with a reinforcement bar. This shows the aliens that they mean business and the group cooperates. The aliens are ordered to strip and give up their belongings. Most aliens try to hide their money and any valuables they may be carrying in their underclothes, shoes and socks.”

Woodruff and Border Patrol officials say that bandit groups are usually made up of two or three men. But a Mexican guide who said he has been bringing aliens into the United States for eight years told The Times that he once led a group through the canyons that was robbed by 14 men. This year alone his groups have been robbed four times, said the guide.

The man, who would not give his name, was on the soccer field, lining up aliens for the night. Dressed in a black Sasson jacket, Sasson knit shirt and Sasson jeans, he stood out among the hundreds of grubby men and women massed on the hilltop. He shoved a pair of designer sunglasses on top of his head and matter-of-factly told a reporter that twice a week he charges people anywhere from $50 to $150 apiece to lead them safely through the canyons, past the bandits and the Border Patrol agents.