CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN YSIDRO : CHP to Increase Tickets Near Border

The California Highway Patrol will write more speeding tickets near Interstate 5 checkpoints for undocumented migrants in an effort to reduce the number of aliens killed while crossing the freeway. The bulk of a $625,000 federal grant to the Highway Patrol last month will be used to pay overtime expenses for additional units to work daily near the San Ysidro and San Clemente checkpoints. CHP spokesman Jerry Bohrer acknowledged that the crackdown could be controversial. “Still, it’s our obligation to keep them from being run over,” Bohrer said. “The thought is, if we keep the speed down, the motorists will be less likely to strike someone.” Last year, 17 people were killed and 19 injured as they tried to cross the freeway near the San Ysidro border crossing, and 15 died along a stretch of Interstate 5 north of Oceanside near the San Clemente checkpoint, Bohrer said.