INS Urged to Halt Highway Arrests : Traffic Deaths of Alien Pedestrians Near Border Cited

Citing the high number of deaths of undocumented pedestrians near the U. S.-Mexico border, two advocates Friday called on the U. S. Border Patrol to cease making arrests on or along three major roadways in southern San Diego County.

In a letter to Alan Nelson, commissioner of the U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, they also called on federal authorities to stop vehicular chases on the main roadways--Interstate 5, Interstate 805 and California 905--in San Ysidro and Chula Vista.

“We just want them to do everything they can to prevent these deaths,” said Claudia E. Smith, regional counsel for California Rural Legal Assistance, a nonprofit group that works with migrants.

The hope, said Smith, is that eliminating the enforcement activity will reduce the likelihood that fleeing migrants will be hit by vehicles.

But a U. S. Border Patrol official immediately said it would be impossible to comply with the two requests. “We’re sworn to arrest those people in violation of immigration law,” said Armand Olvera, assistant chief Border Patrol agent in San Diego, who stressed that patrol agents are careful to avoid injuring anyone while making arrests or chasing suspect vehicles.

The letter is the latest in a campaign to cut down on the number of fatalities of undocumented pedestrians in southern San Diego County, where hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants enter the United States each year. Many cross the grid of highways that converges at the border; others stay near the relatively dark highways to avoid detection.

Last year, according to the California Highway Patrol, 28 undocumented people were killed crossing highways in San Diego, most of them within a few miles of the border. Many are victims of hit-and-run drivers.

In response to the problem, the California Department of Transportation has installed a sign near the intersections of Interstates 5 and 805 warning motorists that pedestrians may be on the road. State officials plan to take a number of other steps, including the installation of increased lighting and the pruning of highway brush along highway green areas, where many migrants take cover. Other remedies are also being considered, including a reduction of the speed limit, officials said.

The letter, sent Friday, was signed by Smith and Roberto Martinez, border representative for the American Friends Service Committee, social action arm of the Quaker church.