SAN CLEMENTE : Border Patrol Reopens Checkpoint After Test

The Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 5 seven miles south of here has been reopened after a two-week closure to gauge the checkpoint’s effectiveness.

Border Patrol spokesman Marco Ramirez said the 71-year-old checkpoint reopened Sunday and will remain that way until INS officials in Washington complete their evaluation, as early as June.

Any decision to close the checkpoint permanently would have to be made by INS officials, Ramirez said.

The checkpoint was also temporarily shut down for six weeks last fall. During the temporary closures, Border Patrol officers assigned to the checkpoint were transferred to the Mexico border at San Diego to assist with Operation Gatekeeper, a five-month-long crackdown on illegal immigration ordered by the Clinton Administration.

Operation Gatekeeper calls for 200 more agents in the San Diego area by the end of the year, as well as improved technology to aid officers staffing the border there, the busiest land port of entry in the United States.

On Sunday, officers at the checkpoint south of San Clemente intercepted 15 people trying to enter the country illegally, Ramirez said. Figures for Tuesday were not available.

The first day the checkpoint reopened after the closure last fall, the Border Patrol reported intercepting more than 150 people.

Caltrans officials estimate that 110,000 vehicles a day pass through the four-lane checkpoint, which is 66 miles from the border.

Civic officials and civil libertarians have called the checkpoint south of San Clemente a public safety threat. Frequently over the years, illegal immigrants have been killed or injured while dashing across the freeway to avoid the checkpoint.