As the U.S.-Mexico border crisis continues to get worse by the day, one San Diego suburb is experiencing an unexpected, from a leftist perspective, ripple effect: a huge surge in gun sales according to the New York Post.
El Cajon, a city of 105,000 people just 25 miles from the border, has become a focal point for the release of migrants by Border Patrol agents.
Since September, approximately 125,000 migrants have been released onto the streets of the San Diego area, alarming local residents and prompting many to understandably arm themselves.
Cory Gautereaux, owner of Firearms Unlimited California, a small gun store northeast of San Diego, has seen a huge increase in business.
“The problem for people that live around the gun store is the street drop offs,” Gautereaux explained, referring to the practice of Border Patrol agents busing asylum-seeking migrants into the community and releasing them onto the streets. “That’s driven business to us,” he added.
The influx of migrants into the San Diego region has been attributed to Texas’ efforts to seal off large portions of its border with Mexico using razor wire and increased personnel.
This has just been published by @libsoftiktok. A boat full of illegal immigrants have landed at Carlsbad, California, 50 miles north of the Mexican border.
Getting tips from our Channel migrants? pic.twitter.com/pV0WnxfbSJ
— David Atherton (@DaveAtherton20) April 15, 2024
As a result, more migrants have been making their way to California.
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According to government data obtained by CBS News, the Border Patrol saw a daily average of 1,200 migrants crossing illegally into the San Diego region during the week ending on Feb. 4, while some of Texas’ busiest sectors averaged just hundreds of crossings during the same period.
Keith Carnevale, one of Gautereaux’s customers, decided to arm his entire family in response to the situation.
“My wife and I have had home defense guns for many years. Recently though with all the stuff that’s happening south of the border and all the people coming over, my concerns have broadened,” Carnevale said. “I don’t think it’s just the people that are coming over to try to find work, I think we have a lot of hostile people that are coming over with ill will, ill intent that will potentially cause chaos.”
El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells acknowledged that his residents don’t feel safe due to the flood of illegal border crossers into the city.
“We see the massive amounts of violence that’s happening, a lot from the immigrant situation, but a lot from the homeless situation as well,” Wells told The Post. “People are frightened and I do believe they’re arming themselves more.”
An illegal migrant who spent time in prison for child s—x crimes in CA was captured in MA by ICE after being released from prison. Officials in San Bernardino County, CA @SBCounty refused to honor an ICE detention request for the child predator. Read: https://t.co/DLazXxjyL3
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) April 11, 2024
The Border Patrol’s processing centers in the region are currently holding more than twice their capacity, making it challenging for agents to process illegal migrants quickly while conducting thorough background checks.
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This has led to instances where individuals with potential ties to terrorist organizations have been released, such as the case of Mohammad Kharwin, a 48-year-old Afghan national who was arrested and released by border agents before the FBI notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of his alleged ties to the U.S.-designated terror group Hezb-e-Islami.
