Police Ignores Prostitution In Migrant Camps

A multitude of criminal activity—including prostitution and public drunkenness—is perpetually ignored by police in a southern California border city because the violators are illegal aliens and the department refuses to deal with immigration enforcement.

For years hundreds of illegal immigrants have lived in shanty town encampments on a stretch of publicly owned canyon in northeastern San Diego not far from the Mexican border. They stay mostly in tents, use the bushes as their bathroom and steal water from the city’s irrigation lines. The migrants also create fire hazards with illegal campfires, propane-fueled lights and candles and have destroyed the once-lush and scenic mountain terrain with empty alcohol containers, cigarette butts and other trash.

Prostitution is also rampant, according to area residents and various news reports, that have discovered makeshift “sex dens” inside trees, complete with used and unused condoms, lubricant and beds. There is also underage sex-trafficking that has long been ignored by local authorities because it involves illegal aliens. Area immigration advocates still help the law breakers, visiting the canyon camps regularly to deliver food and water. 

San Diego Police has known for years that the intruders live on the canyon, which is located in an area known as Rancho Penasquitos. The city and county actually run a public park in the area, which ironically, has regulations that are repeatedly violated by the illegal aliens. They include a ban on glass containers, littering and overnight camping. All are strictly prohibited, according to city and county officials, though the rules evidently don’t apply to illegal immigrants. 

Enraged area residents want police to at the very least enforce local laws and punish those who break them, regardless of immigration status. Many have encountered the disgusting shanty town filth during hikes with their children in the once-breathtaking canyon they assure has been ruined by invaders.  

Like many local law enforcement agencies nationwide, the San Diego Police Department has a don’t-ask-don’t-tell immigration policy that forbids officers from inquiring about a suspect’s status. In this case however, it certainly appears as though police is taking it a step further than most to protect illegal aliens.

A department captain actually justifies the migrant camps, pointing out that the region’s lack of low-income housing leaves the canyon dwellers no choice. Residents counter that many of the migrants make up to $100 a day tax free and can afford to rent a small place. But the sympathetic police captain, Miguel Rosario, explains that if the migrants “are not legal, they lack the proper documentation to secure an apartment.” 

So there you have it—a high-ranking law enforcement official in a major U.S. city defending criminals as if they were the victims.