With illegal border crossings at their lowest in decades, the public can expect to see more Border Patrol agents stepping up their presence within the interior of the region, the new chief of the agency’s San Diego sector said Friday. Justin de la Torre takes the reins of the sector where he began his own career. It’s a border that looks very different now. Last month, the number of migrant encounters along the San Diego sector was 960, which is a 93% decrease compared to October 2024. At that time, much of the border agents’ work involved processing people arriving at the border, many of whom were seeking asylum. With this reduction in numbers as a result of the Trump administration’s policies to crack down on illegal immigration, agents can more proactively patrol along the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as farther north into San Diego County communities, he said Friday in a meeting with reporters. Community groups that closely monitor immigration enforcement operations throughout the county said this week that they have noticed an increased presence of Border Patrol agents working with federal immigration agents in the neighborhoods. “When we had 900 people a day illegally entering, we did not have the time and the ability to patrol, whether it’s in the United States, whether it’s in San Diego, or whether it’s all along the border,” he said. “Now we have the ability to do that.” Both Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement fall under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. De la Torre said that last fiscal year, there were about 324,000 apprehensions along the San Diego sector. He also acknowledged that “several thousand more got away from us.” “Our job is to make sure that we hold them accountable,” he said. “Whether someone entered the country unlawfully yesterday or five years ago, we are still focused on holding them accountable. “… That’s why you see Border Patrol agents more so now throughout the country doing that job. Working closely with our partners at ICE to ensure that we can hold people accountable.” De la Torre said one goal in particular is to combat criminal organizations that profit from human smuggling. Three weeks ago, four people died when a panga carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Imperial Beach. Those who survived said they had paid around $15,000 to be smuggled into the country. De la Torre noted that many people cross the border illegally for economic reasons, and many don’t have the money to pay the smugglers at the time of the arrangement. For this reason, people often agree to pay later. He said that cartels force people to work off their smuggling debts, which can take months or years. De la Torre said that the sector still records about 30 migrant encounters per day, and his goal is to bring that number down to zero. Part of this effort entails building a more extensive border wall system, which includes barriers, roads, lighting and sensors. Some of that work has been approved in San Diego County, which already has one of the most fortified border wall systems in the nation. He added that the agency also plans to hire an additional 800 agents for the San Diego sector over the next two to three years. De la Torre, a 25-year Border Patrol veteran, was named in mid-November as the new San Diego sector chief. He began his career at the Imperial Beach station, eventually becoming the patrol agent in charge. He has also worked in the Campo and Boulevard stations, as well as in different specialty units. “I do know the terrain and the area very well, and I grew up here, so it’s home for me,” he said. De la Torre was previously the chief agent in the Yuma sector. He will lead around 2,000 Border Patrol agents along the 60-mile border with Mexico and the entire California coast. ...read more read less