19 Migrants Arrested in Border Drainage

U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Chula Vista Station arrested 19 people on May 4 after finding them hiding in a drainage system near the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego, according to Customs and Border Protection. The arrests happened at about 10:40 p.m. after agents using the agency’s Remote Video Surveillance System saw what CBP called suspicious activity near the tunnels. The group included 16 adults and three unaccompanied children, the agency said. All 19 were taken into custody and transported to the Chula Vista station for processing. ### Where did agents find the group? San Diego was the site of the arrests, with CBP saying the group was discovered in a drainage system near the border. The agency said the tunnels were being used as a hiding place after the group crossed into the United States. The Chula Vista Station carried out the arrests, according to the CBP statement released this week. Local television station 10News, citing CBP, reported the same account and said the operation followed surveillance of activity near the drainage tunnel system. ### How did Border Patrol spot them? The Remote Video Surveillance System first detected the activity, CBP said. Agents then moved into the area and located the 19 people inside the drainage system. The agency did not say in its statement how long the group had been inside the tunnels before agents arrived. CBP said only that the arrests took place on the night of May 4 and that the individuals were taken from the site to the Chula Vista station. ### Who was in the group? CBP said the group consisted of 16 adults and three unaccompanied children. The agency did not release the names, ages or nationalities of most of those arrested. Two of the men were identified by CBP as 35-year-old Raudel Carrillo-Padilla and 31-year-old Ivan Carrillo-Padilla. The agency said the two are Mexican brothers who had previously been deported. ### Why did CBP single out two brothers in its statement? Raudel Carrillo-Padilla and Ivan Carrillo-Padilla were highlighted because CBP said both men had prior drug convictions. The agency said the brothers were convicted in 2017 in Yreka, California, of offenses involving possession, transport and intent to sell methamphetamine. Ivan Carrillo-Padilla had also been deported again after a 2019 drug-related interdiction stop in Eugene, Oregon, according to CBP. The agency included those details as part of its account of the arrests but did not say in the release what specific charges, if any, the brothers now face beyond immigration processing. ### What happens to unaccompanied children after an arrest like this? CBP says unaccompanied children are separated from unrelated adults while in custody. On its custody information page, the agency says facilities along the southwest border provide services including meals, laundry, childcare and medical support for children in its custody. The agency did not provide case-specific details for the three children arrested in San Diego. CBP said only that all 19 people were taken to the Chula Vista station for processing. ### How does this fit into border enforcement in San Diego? CBP’s San Diego Sector oversees 60 miles of international boundary with Mexico and 114 coastal border miles along the Pacific, according to the agency’s sector overview. The region has long included barriers, canyons, storm channels and drainage infrastructure that agents monitor for illegal crossings. CBP publishes monthly southwest land border encounter data on its website, including figures by sector and demographic category. The agency said the 19 people arrested on May 4 were processed after the operation, and the San Diego Sector continues patrols and surveillance along the border.