Immigration Officials Investigate Iraqis’ Arrival At Border

SAN DIEGO — U.S. and Mexican immigration authorities are investigating the arrival of small groups of Iraqis at the San Diego-Tijuana border in the past week and their possible connection to smuggling organizations, a newspaper reported.

In the last week, Mexican officials found a group of four at a Tijuana hotel, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Thursday. Two groups of two or three Iraqis turned themselves in to U.S. inspectors at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry, asking for political asylum.

“We’ve continued to see a steady trickle of Iraqis coming into the United States through Mexico, requesting asylum once they’re in the United States,” said Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego.

The vast majority of Iraqis who show up along the California border are drawn by San Diego’s Chaldean community. Their numbers now are nowhere near those of six years ago, when Tijuana was a major transit point for Chaldeans trying to get to the United States.

Source:
NBCSanDiego