Caltrans to Build I-5 Safety Fence : Migrants: The $3-million center divider near the Camp Pendleton checkpoint is designed to keep illegal aliens from being killed on the freeway. But critics say it will only cause more deaths.

Caltrans officials announced Wednesday that they will build a $3-million fence up to 10 feet high in the middle of Interstate 5 in Northern San Diego County in an attempt to stop migrants from running across the busy freeway and being hit and killed.

The decision to build the 8-mile-long, chain link fence near the Border Patrol checkpoint on Camp Pendleton was immediately criticized by one immigrant rights group, which said the fence will cause more problems and deaths than it prevents.

The fence will be erected in about two years between Las Pulgas and Basilone roads, authorities said.

In announcing the decision, Caltrans San Diego District Director Jesus Garcia said, “I am convinced this safety fence will save lives.”

Since 1987, 38 people, mostly undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America, have died in the Camp Pendleton area and an additional 25 have been injured trying to cross the freeway near the checkpoint. So far this year, 22 people have been hit--a new record--including 13 who died.

Many of those killed near the checkpoint were dropped off on the northbound lanes by smugglers--a common practice used to avoid immigration officials--who would then drive through the checkpoint.

Often the migrants cross the freeway to avoid the checkpoint, often startling drivers who see people dashing in front of them.

Once they have walked past the border checkpoint, the migrants recross the freeway to rejoin the smugglers for the trip north to Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Garcia made his announcement at the checkpoint, where he was joined by Ben Davidian, regional commissioner for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service; Gus de La Vina, the top U.S. Border Patrol official in San Diego, and Ron Oliver, head of the California Highway Patrol’s border division.

The fence will be only one part of a concerted effort to keep migrants off the interstate. Other plans include placing new signs warning drivers about the freeway crossers and billboards at a nearby rest stop warning migrants not to cross the interstate. “For the love of God, don’t across the highway on foot,” the billboard message will read in Spanish.

The CHP has begun cracking down on speeders near the checkpoint, where the average driving speed is about 70 m.p.h.

And Caltrans will print small cards and distribute them among migrants by the border and at the checkpoint reminding them that crossing freeways is dangerous.

The decision to construct the fence comes after Cal State Fullerton completed a study that called for a barrier to reduce the number of deaths involving undocumented immigrant pedestrians.

The Caltrans-commissioned study was released two weeks ago. It surveyed more than 100 policy-makers, academics, immigrant advocates and others who have followed the issue. It found that 71% of the respondents thought a freeway barrier would be “very effective” or “extremely effective” in deterring pedestrians.

At the time, some immigrant rights activists said the barrier was a mistake, a criticism they renewed this week.

Claudia Smith, a lawyer in the Oceanside office of California Rural Legal Assistance, in a letter sent Monday to Caltrans director Robert C. Best in Sacramento, called the Cal State Fullerton study “badly skewed” and said a barrier “is not likely to reduce the carnage and may well make crossings riskier.”

“Notwithstanding the fence, countless illegal immigrants will still be forced to bail out along the stretch involved when those transporting them (often not professional smugglers, but simply relatives or friends) suddenly realize they cannot run the checkpoint,” Smith said in her letter.

She could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Caltrans officials have not determined exactly how tall the fence will be but said it would be a minimum of 7 feet and a maximum of 10 feet.

The bottom 3 feet will be made of metal rails attached to wooden posts and will function as a center divider to prevent cars from crossing into oncoming traffic.

The rest will be similar to chain-link fencing. The only difference, Caltrans officials said, is that the mesh will be so small that a person won’t be able to get a foothold and climb over.

I-5 BARRIER: An 8-mile-long fence will be built at the Border Patrol checkpoint in order to prevent freeway crossings. It will extend 2 miles to the north and 6 miles to the south.