Near San Ysidro, once a hotspot for migrant arrivals, the border has fallen silent. Shelters have closed, aid stations have been dismantled, and humanitarian groups are shifting their focus elsewhere.
At Whiskey 8, a former migrant aid station, volunteers packed up supplies that once sustained thousands. Adriana Jasso of the American Friends Service Committee recalled last year’s crisis when her team provided food and clothing through the border fence. But the last group they encountered—20 men from India and China—crossed on February 15. Soon after, a storm tore down their canopies. “It felt like a sign,” Jasso said.
The slowdown follows increased enforcement. The Border Patrol, backed by 750 military personnel, has reinforced six miles of border wall with concertina wire. Arrests in the San Diego sector have dropped from 1,200 a day last April to just 30–40. Acting Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey Stalnaker credited the drop to stricter security and Mexico’s deployment of 10,000 National Guard troops.
As crossings decline, legal aid groups like Al Otro Lado and Immigrant Defenders Law Center are shifting their efforts to Mexico City and Los Angeles. But advocates warn that migrants may now take more dangerous routes. Earlier this month, three people died in the Otay Mountain wilderness after getting stranded in a storm.
Back at Whiskey 8, Jasso holds a stuffed Minnie Mouse left behind by a young girl forced to abandon it at the border. “I promised her I would take care of it,” she said. “That somebody would love it as much as she did.”