San Diego canyons are teeming with illegal migrant camps, prostitution and numerous fire hazards. A week after a prostitution ring was uncovered, San Diego residents are still complaining about the illegal traffic through local communities.
Week-long expensive helicopter flyovers have produced no results with the San Diego Police Department. One reason for the lack of results from the helicopter flyovers is many migrants have covered their tents with camouflage tarps which make them nearly impossible to spot from the air.
It definitely takes officers on the ground to scavenge the canyon area and walk the trails that lead to the tents and small shacks high on the hillsides or deep brush. Hiking the canyons is treacherous and often requires hands and knees maneuvers. This journalist spent six-hours hiking 10-miles inside the canyon on Saturday in the treacherous canyons.
“We uncovered many recent open-fire pits, trash areas and migrant campsites. It appears they (illegal migrant squatters) are moving from one location to the next,” said J.C. Playford a video photo journalist.
The collision course of home owners and migrants is about to erupt again. Evidence of fire hazards and prostitution will push this canyon-living community to move again. A pair of female child jeans were recovered from the prostitution site and pose the difficult question concerning underage Mexican girls possibly being trafficked in to service at the migrant camps which has occurred in the past all over San Diego County.
Although there didn’t appear to be any substantial police presence in the canyons on Saturday, there was one fire truck cruising the fire break roads and two patrolmen on horseback. Neither official wished to comment about the migrant story.
The Rancho Villas Apartment Complex sits directly on the ridge above the canyon and has been hit hard by the illegal population that calls McGonigle Canyon home.
“This is a huge problem, my husband is the Manager of the complex and has called the police several times a week because these illegals have been loitering and drinking on the property,” Stephanie Jahn, McGonigle Canyon resident said.
“The first time he called the police, they (police) asked for a description once he said they were Hispanic migrants they refused to come. The second time a guy was literally passed out in the parking lot, he called and stated there was an injured man on the property, they came, called an ambulance, but again no charges.”
Jahn explained that she has her cars broken into constantly and nothing is done. “This is personal to me.”
Most want to know who owns the land in order to pressure them to do something about the subsequent crime taking place in the community. It is many residents’ understanding that they can and should go after the owners for maintaining a nuisance property.
There are also reports that local grocery store, Stater Bros., has a problem with shop lifting that is directly related to this large migrant population.
While witnessing the migrants living situation it can pull at the heartstrings; a reality check is clearly needed. All agree the migrant population are making $8 to $10 an hour, they lay claim to the idea they cannot afford to pay rent and send money home to their home country.
Can American citizens do the same thing? Even if they wanted to pitch a tent at a campground they are paying $20-$30 per night.
If they plan to immigrate legally into this country, they must assimilate and that requires obtaining a legal residence, unless a property owner decides to let migrants live on their land and that rarely happens.
It is worth pointing out that it is illegal to camp in the canyons. The landowners are currently looking the other direction because the migrants continue to call McGonigle Canyon home.
The reason these property owners do not allow the migrants to live off their land freely is because the migrant workers come with a host of problems.
These life-threatening issues include; fire hazards from propane or open-flame fires, sanitary issues, drinking, environmental destruction, pollution of the streams and finally illegal prostitution.
While local authorities blame the lack of low-cost housing the migrants admit they will not take advantage of it because they want to send all their money to their families back home. This is hardly assimilating to the American way of life.
The migrants also claim they only do work Americans will not perform, with the exception of agricultural work, this is untrue. It was the African-American community who lost construction jobs to the Latino workers.
If anything the Latinos have an advantage over Americans who are poor, because Americans must live on the minimum-wage job minus taxes; most Latinos make minimum wage or more and pay little to no payroll taxes.
***
A dozen concerned citizens and anti-illegal immigration activists walked the canyon neighborhood over the weekend to hand out flyers. “We blanketed about 200 homes with information and contact flyers,” Jeff Schwilk of San Diego Minutemen said. “We spoke with dozens of concerned residents.”
Most residents continued to be worried about fire hazards inside the canyon. “After a three-year drought that canyon could go off like a torch at any time and the city of San Diego is doing virtually nothing to remove the migrant camps and fire danger,” he said.
One home owner voiced specific concerns that deemed to be quite alarming. “A Long-time resident stated Border Patrol will not go in the canyon due to the belief that if they do roundups of the illegal aliens, the migrants will torch the canyon in retaliation,” Schwilk said.
If this claim is true, residents living near McGonigle Canyon have plenty to be afraid of and they could be the next victims in this tragic story.

For more stories; http://www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

It’s been a few years since the public spotlight has been shown on McGonigle Canyon, in San Diego, but the ‘dirty secret’ has returned and the illegal migrant camp is complete with prostitution. The underbelly of San Diego has again reared its ugly head.

Many of the illegal migrants hail from the Mexican state of Oaxaca where they live in a very similar environment in shanty towns along the sides of the hills.

“This is not a lot different than how many of them live back home in some of the poorest parts of Mexico,” says Jeff Schwilk founder of the San Diego Minutemen. “They don’t mind living rent free in the canyons; it allows them to send all their earnings back home to their families.”

Area resident who has been affected by this situation before, Julie Adams, explains many of the workers who call McGonigle Canyon home make more than $100 per day or $2,000 per month, tax free. “They could easily afford an apartment if they wanted to.”

Law enforcement disagrees. “If they are not legal, they lack the proper documentation to secure an apartment,” says Capt. Miguel Rosario of the San Diego Police Department.

This is where the barriers begin. Concerned citizens take a hard-line approach and want the illegal immigration problem and crime in the canyon dealt with by law enforcement, period. Most agree that many American’s simply do not want to know what is going on in canyons like McGonigle. It’s just too unpleasant.

However, law enforcement looks at this issue much differently. Capt. Rosario believes the canyon dwellers have no choice in their living situation and looks to the lack of low-income housing in the region as a problem.

“There is no dialog about the migrants living in the canyon,” he said.

Immigration activists like the Minutemen couldn’t disagree more; they feel their efforts to assist a cash-strapped police department with credible intelligence are mostly ignored and even criticized due to the strong influence of the Mexican activists in the San Diego city government.

As far as the victims in most recent case, most agree it would not be the suspected illegal pimp/john and prostitute.’ J.C. Playford a freelance video journalist was charged Saturday evening with a misdemeanor assault after he called authorities.

“These two admitted they were illegally in this country and the girl said she was a prostitute who charged $30. I have the tape to prove it,” he explains. Playford makes the credible point that it would be awfully hard to chase the alleged criminals, continue filming 30-40-feet behind and take the time to beat up the illegal male.

But officers who arrived on the scene saw things differently. Police stated falsely accusing Playford was a member of the Minutemen, something he and Schwilk both deny. There was also a third person on the scene, who also was charged along with Playford who may have been a member of the San Diego Minutemen, but was unable to be reached for comment.

The outrage here seems to fall into the smear the messenger category.

Not so, says Capt. Rosario. After stepping back and reassessing the situation, he believes there may have been a case against the two men.

“When our officers made the initial contact they found two cans of Mace and a stun gun,” Rosario said. “If they knew there was danger in the canyon why did they go looking for it?”

In an earlier statement Capt. Rosario claimed the two men had sticks, but in an interview today Rosario said “he may have been mistaken on the sticks or walking canes.”

He continues to explain that if the group called ahead of time and said they heard about some illegal activity taking place things might have turned out differently.

Playford insists he called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who called SDPD, who asked the group to walk up the canyon to meet the authorities.

So why the charges against the whistle blowers?

“This is an on-going case and nothing is finalized,” Rosario said. “I concede things could have happened as Playford described, which is why my officers let both men walk with a misdemeanor ticket.”

This is now an official investigation where all parties will be contacted and it will ultimately be up to the District Attorney’s office whether they will pursue this case.

Lost in all this seems to be the suspected illegal immigrant prostitute and pimp/john.

“We have their identification and addresses and cannot discuss them any further,” Rosario noted. However, if these two were considered victims and not criminals, it is unlikely that they ran any immigration checks or deported.

Adams has seen this movie before. “Back in 2006 the canyon was home to 300-500 migrants which included make-shift homes, stores, roach coaches and other illegal activity including prostitution.”

“I harken this to the city’s graffiti policy. You don’t notice it anymore because it’s now allowed,” she said. “If we make it harder for those living in the canyon, they’ll leave.”

There is also the nearby crime taking place that Adams points to. “I’ve had my home robbed and I’m not the only one. Why are the police not protecting the people who live here legally?”

“SDPD has been blatantly protecting the illegal canyon dwellers in McGonigle for over 3 years since we first starting exposing the horrors there,” Schwilk said. “My home was raided in 2007 on an illegal search warrant and several other activists have been charged with false crimes because they dared to expose the truth about the crime and dangers in the migrant camps.”

“Even though we have exposed all over the internet the city’s covering for the illegal alien squatters, their vicious attacks on concerned citizens continue to this day. The city still refuses to allow ICE to remove the illegal aliens and send them home.”

Capt. Rosario also claims this is a highly-charged issue and until the federal government policies change, no one will be able to address the situation.

“The bigger problem is this takes place out of the public view. It’s part of the continued demand for cheap labor which drives the market,” he said.

As far as tackling the serious problems that plague McGonigle Canyon, Rosario states Lt. Rudy Tai, of the Vice Dept., has committed resources to the canyon in order to follow up on the allegations of prostitution.

“We will find out if this is individual or organized prostitution.”

The Vista Community Clinic may be providing the prostitutes with free condoms. John Monti, another concerned citizen, reported he found a flyer left behind in the canyon which stated where and how to obtain the contraceptives.

“These activities are being done with federal and state money,” Monti said.

The SDPD will now conduct helicopter flyovers in the canyon day and night to ensure there are no fire threats in the region.

That may be of comfort to some area residents, but not John Bautista, who says he sleeps with one-eye open now.

Radio talk show personality, Rick Roberts has called for a ‘camp out’ in McGonigle Canyon. His show did this back in 2006/07 when the first problems sprung to the surface and was successful in getting the authorities to bulldoze the mini-city and clearing out the canyon – for a while.

In the end there are no winners here. The migrants continue to be in a tough situation, prostitutes will move along to a new location and the residents will be left to pick up the pieces.

The lesson here is the law must always reside with the legal U.S. residents.

For more stories; http://www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner