September 17, 2012 (San Diego) – Daphne Hearn, Special Agent in Charge of the San Diego FBI Office, and Chris Maston, Director of Field Operations, Customs Border Protection (CBP) announced the arrest of CBP Officer Thomas Silva, age 33, a nine-year veteran with the CBP. Silva was arrested on Friday, September 7 2012, at approximately 8:30 a.m, at the San Ysidro Port of Entry by CBP and FBI Agents assigned to the FBI Border Corruption Task Force (BCTF) pursuant to a federal arrest warrant based on a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, case number 12MJ3305. The complaint charges Silva with wire fraud and concealing a person from arrest.

Deadline to R.S.V.P. is Friday, March 16

March 14, 2012 (San Diego) – The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Citizen’s Academy is offering classes beginning March 24 to provide the community with information which will familiarize them with CBP’s mission and goals.  CBP is one of the Department of Homeland Security’s largest and most complex components, with a priority mission of keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S.

By Manuel Ocana (Spanish translation below)
 

January 19, 2012 (San Diego) --Philippino undocumented immigrant and Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Jose Antonio Vargas was the keynote speaker for the All People's Breakfast honoring Dr Martin Luther King on Monday, January 16.

November 30, 2011 (Otay Mesa)--A drug tunnel discovered Tuesday between Tijuana and San Diego was described by U.S. authorities as one of the most elaborate ever found beneath the U.S.—Mexico border. The passageway, the second major one uncovered in the past two weeks, connected a warehouse in Mexico to another in Otay Mesa.

October 15, 2011 (San Diego) -- United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced that Marcos Rodríguez-Perez, one of five individuals charged with being involved in the death of Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol Agent Robert W. Rosas, Jr., was arraigned today in federal court in San Diego. 
 

Rodríguez-Perez , 22,was arrested by Mexican authorities on April 11, 2011, in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico and was extradited from Mexico on October 13, 2011, escorted by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. The extradition of Rodríguez-Perez leaves only one suspect involved in the murder of Agent Rosas at large.

September 16, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Congressman Duncan D. Hunter (R-El Cajon) has introduced H.R, 2952, a measure requiring immigration officials to expedite deportation of undocumented immigrants.

Border crossing closed to northbound traffic; multiple injuries reported

August 26, 2011 (Jacumba) – An “international traveler” who crossed the U.S.-Mexican border was shot by a property owner in Jacumba around 5:27 p.m. yesterday. The shooting occurred in the 42000 block of Old Highway 80. The patient was life-flighted to Sharp Memorial Hospital.

July 28, 2011 (Tecate)—Yesterday, Jesus Arteaga Garcia was extradited to San Diego from Mexico to face murder charges stemming from the fatal stabbing of his estranged wife, Maribel Arteaga, who was two months pregnant.She was stabbed to death in front of her children on December 9, 2009, at her apartment in Chula Vista. She was a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer who served at the Tecate Port of Entry.

July 16, 2011 (San Diego) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa cargo facility discovered 1,420 pounds of marijuana in boxes of serrano chili peppers Wednesday evening. 

On July 13, a Mexican citizen, 27, entered the cargo port driving a 2000 International tractor and pulling a refrigerated trailer with cargo manifested as chili peppers. A CBP officer noticed the driver’s nervous demeanor and referred the conveyance for an intensive examination.

Fire parcel fee, redevelopment cuts, tuition hikes, freeze on teacher lay-offs, and "crippling" cuts in border crimes enforcement among the budget impacts on our region

By Miriam Raftery
 

June 30, 2011 (Sacramento) –Governor Jerry Brown and Democrats in the state Legislature have approved a majority-vote budget without a single Republican vote. The move ends a months-long impasse in which Republicans held out for an all-cuts budget, while Democrats sought revenue increases to prevent slashing programs ranging from healthcare to law enforcement. The budget includes $7.9 billion in cuts which aim to reduce the state’s $26 billion deficit to $5 billion.