Alien Arrests Could Set Record, INS Officials Say

An increasing number of illegal aliens are being arrested in San Diego County and elsewhere along the 1,933-mile U.S.-Mexico border, a trend that federal authorities say could mean a record number of illegal immigrants will be apprehended during the current fiscal year.

Authorities say the increase may be particularly significant because it comes at a time of the year when arrests normally taper off as many aliens return to Mexico for the holidays after seasonal jobs, such as those in agriculture, have expired in the United States.

The ongoing economic crisis in Mexico is the principal reason for the continued exodus of Mexican nationals to the United States, although stronger enforcement along the border may also partially explain the rising numbers of arrests, officials said.

The arrest figures are important because federal officials and others use them to demonstrate the scope of the “invasion” of illegal aliens and the need to take corrective steps--such as enacting immigration reform legislation. Critics, however, contend that the numbers are inflated and their impact is exaggerated to reflect the biases of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

In San Diego County, where a 66-mile stretch along the border with Mexico is considered the busiest crossing point in the nation, the U.S. Border Patrol has set monthly records for apprehensions from July through November, arresting about 45% more illegal aliens during those five months than in the same period last year, said Ed Pyeatt, a Border Patrol spokesman.

The 33,023 aliens arrested in the county in November alone represented a 61% increase over the same month last year, he said.

“If we continue like this, we could easily have more than 500,000” apprehensions in fiscal 1986, Pyeatt said. The fiscal year used by the federal government begins Oct. 1.

The previous annual record was 429,000 apprehensions, set in the 1982-83 fiscal year. In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the Border Patrol in San Diego County arrested 427,000 illegal immigrants, 98% of whom were Mexicans.

In other border areas, too, the numbers of arrests seem to be increasing, immigration officials said.

In El Paso, Tex., for instance, apprehensions during each month in 1985 have set a record for that month, said Joseph Aubin, intelligence officer for the Border Patrol in El Paso, the busiest crossing area after San Diego.

“It means there are more aliens coming,” said Aubin. “The economic crisis in Mexico is certainly pushing the border forward.”

However, critics of the immigration service say the agency puts too much emphasis on the numbers.

Observers note, for instance, that one foreign national can be counted several times even in daily arrest totals as he tries to re-enter the United States repeatedly.

“The numbers are very self-serving,” said Herman Baca, chairman of the Committee on Chicano Rights in National City.

But the INS puts considerable stock in the figures. In fact, the increasing numbers of arrests were used last year as a major reason for the largest-ever increase in the budget of the U.S. Border Patrol--a hike that included the hiring of 850 new employees, 239 of them in San Diego, and the purchase of new vehicles, aircraft and high-technology gadgets such as night-vision devices, closed-circuit television cameras and electronic sensors.

“We’ve got more people on the line, and I think we’re going to see a steady increase in apprehensions,” said Duke Austin, an INS spokesman in Washington. “As we do a better job, the number (of apprehensions) should drop off. That hasn’t started happening yet.”

During the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the INS apprehended a record 1.3 million undocumented foreigners nationwide, more than 90% of whom were Mexican nationals seized along the southern border. The record continued an upward trend that began in 1980.