Caution at the Border

Two government actions announced last week offer the hope of reducing crime against the thousands of illegal immigrants who traverse dangerous border terrain on their daily trek into the United States.

The Border Patrol’s decision to install floodlights in the rugged “Gravel Pit” area west of the San Ysidro port of entry, where seven migrants have been killed this year, is perhaps new Chief Agent Gustavo de la Vina’s best option to deter violence.

Also welcome is the increased San Diego police presence in the treacherous canyons. Members of an elite police unit will begin patrolling the border zone this week.

One note of caution. History demonstrates that gunplay between police and suspected thieves at the border is inevitable. From 1984 to 1989, members of the police Border Crime Prevention Unit shot 44 people, killing 18.

With scores of innocent people likely to be near the scene of any shooting, we hope that the Special Response Team will not carry its standard submachine guns into the canyons, opting to patrol the border more lightly armed. That strategy also could allay perennial Mexican fears of a heavy arms buildup on the frontier between our nations.