Freeway Barrier Best Way to Halt Migrant Deaths

The California Highway Patrol is about to waste $530,000 to attempt to further reduce the number of illegal immigrants who are injured or killed crossing Interstate 5 (“CHP Targets Drivers Who Peril Migrants,” Aug. 24).

Last year, 51 people were injured or killed on that freeway near the San Ysidro border crossing and the San Clemente checkpoints. No one questions the need to attempt to reduce this drastic carnage. But the steps that have been taken in the past year have already met with success. This year no deaths have occurred at San Onofre, and the number has been reduced to six at San Ysidro.

The authorities are going to spend over half a million dollars on overtime for the CHP to write more speeding tickets. Caltrans says the average speed through the checkpoint zone is 72 m.p.h. The recent killing of a child on the freeway near the San Ysidro checkpoint involved a vehicle going about 90 m.p.h. Those people who want to speed will not slow down much just because of increased enforcement. They will probably be so intently looking in their rear view mirrors for CHP cars that they will be even less likely to spot pedestrians.

Border Patrol spokesman Ted A. Swofford said over a year ago that “the only workable solution would be to build a 10-foot-high barrier along the freeway median to keep immigrants from trying to cross.” A Cal State Fullerton research team studied this issue for a year and polled immigrant advocates and policy-makers who were familiar with this issue. Seventy-one percent of the respondents stated that a barrier would be an effective way to prevent the deaths.

Last December, Caltrans proposed building a $3-million, 8-mile-long, 10-foot-high fence down the Interstate 5 median south of the San Onofre checkpoint. What has become of that project? Would it not be better to put the $500,000 toward the fence, which probably will help cut down on deaths, rather than increased enforcement which may increase them?

LARRY CULBERTSON

San Juan Capistrano