Boy Dies as Migrants Cross I-5 in the Dark

An 8-year-old boy believed to have been an illegal immigrant from Mexico en route to family in Orange County was struck by a car and killed along Interstate 5 north of the San Clemente border checkpoint early Wednesday.

He was run down at about 12:15 a.m., as he and six others, including his mother and three siblings, were crossing the busy freeway in the darkness, authorities said.

The boy was identified as Constantino Loreto Marin, a resident of the Mexican Pacific Coast city of Acapulco. He was dead at the scene.

He was the 10th pedestrian believed to have been an undocumented Mexican citizen who has been struck and killed this year along a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 5 in northern San Diego County, where illegal immigrants finding their way north frequently cross the busy freeway.

Since 1987, according to the California Highway Patrol, 33 pedestrians believed to have been undocumented immigrants have suffered similar fates along Interstate 5 in that area.

All of the victims apparently were trying to bypass inspection at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint along Interstate 5.

Undocumented immigrants heading towards the Los Angeles area from the U.S.-Mexico border have long attempted to walk around the giant checkpoint, subjecting themselves to the hazards of fast-moving freeway traffic.

The numbers of undocumented people negotiating San Diego-area freeways on foot has increased dramatically in the past two years, U.S. officials say, reflecting the rising volume of illegal immigration.

Not infrequently, authorities say, smugglers drop groups of immigrants on the median or shoulder of the busy freeway south of the checkpoint in Camp Pendleton. Arrangements are often made to rendezvous with the immigrants north of the checkpoint.

Immigrants attempting to walk around the checkpoint must often cross eight lanes of fast-moving traffic twice.

Women and children are often the most vulnerable, lawmen say, because they cross more slowly. U.S. immigration authorities say more and more women and children are entering the United States illegally from Mexico, often seeking to reunite with husbands and fathers who have recently become legal under the amnesty program.

“This just shows how much desperation there is out there,” said Roberto Martinez, a rights activist in San Diego.

Many of the victims are from rural areas and are unaccustomed to high-speed freeways. In addition, they have often been traveling for hours, and are frequently exhausted by the time they negotiate the freeway.

The California Department of Transportation has placed flashing signs along Interstate 5 warning motorists of the potential presence of pedestrians, but the deaths have continued to mount.

The boy killed early Wednesday was believed to have been en route to the Anaheim-area home of relatives, according to the Mexican consul general in San Diego. However, his precise destination and the identity of his family members in the United States was not known, said Marcela Merino, a Mexican consular official in San Diego.

He, his mother Angelica Marin, and three unidentified siblings were crossing from west to east when the youth was struck in the southbound lanes, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The dead boy was struck by a rented car driven by Sharon K. Frisby of Mesa, Ariz., according to Stephen Tomasiak, a traffic officer with the California Highway Patrol in Oceanside. The vehicle was traveling at about 60 m.p.h.. The driver was not cited, as she could not have avoided the accident, the patrol officer said.

The group was standing in the roadway’s center divider when firefighters and patrol officers arrived, said Gene Begnell, battalion chief with the San Clemente Fire Department.

“He was the last in line,” said Begnell, who added that the driver, a woman, had attempted to avoid other pedestrians. “She couldn’t miss them all.”

The site of the accident was about 2.5 miles north of the Border Patrol checkpoint.

It occurred 11 days after an undocumented Mexican couple, Ruben Calderon, 59, and his wife, Josefina Salgado Uriostegui, 52, were struck and killed along the same stretch of freeway. They were on their way to visit relatives in Orange County. They were killed on a spot along the freeway 1.7 miles north of where the boy lost his life early Wednesday.

Near the U.S.-Mexico boundary line, major roadways pose an even greater threat for illicit border-crossers.

Since 1987, according to the California Highway Patrol, 83 undocumented pedestrians have been struck by vehicles and killed within 5 miles of the border while crossing three major highways--Interstates 5 and 805 and California 905.