San Diego And Illegal Migrants
by
Phil Rasmussen

In 2017, then California governor, Jerry Brown signed 3 bills essentially turning the State of California into a “sanctuary” state.  Although the bills did not specifically mention the word sanctuary, their content implied, and was interpreted by the public, that illegal migrants could take refuge from federal law enforcement. 

Several Democrat controlled city governments, in California, embraced the bills and started calling themselves “sanctuary cities.”  This trend caught on as other liberal city governments across the nation began calling themselves sanctuary cities.  However, such action was not just the purview of city government.  Many county governments also followed suit.  Every sanctuary city and county in our nation is Democrat controlled.

Between Biden’s lack of desire and action to protect our nation’s borders, and California’s immigration laws, hundreds of thousands people have illegally crossed California’s southern borders into the United States.  At this point it should be noted that any person entering the United States without proper documentation, or who purposefully avoids lawful entry regulations has committed a crime and thus is a criminal.

Last April San Diego became the leading entry point for migrants illegally entering the US.  In less than one week, over 9,500 arrests of illegal migrants from 74 different countries were made.  That number does not include got-aways.  More recently, the Biden administration released 72% of migrant who crossed illegally into San Diego. 

In light of Biden’s most recent executive order to “control” illegal immigration, it has done little to deter the illegal flow of migrants (eg criminals) into our country.

While the media keeps focusing on numbers and “experts” talk about the impact that illegal migrants have on our economy, social structures, and more recently, national security, there has been almost no discussion on why this point of entry into the US from Mexico MUST be permanently closed, or at a very minimum highly controlled.

For understanding, we need to consider the roles that geography and geopolitics play in national security.  Unlike many nations, the United States is bordered by two bodies of water (Atlantic and Pacific) and two countries (Canada and Mexico).  Overall, for the past century we have had strong political and economic relationships with our neighbors to the north and south. 

The Atlantic and Pacific oceans have both protected us from foreign invasion and at the same time provided a young, growing nation with needed international trade.  World War II however brought us the reality that the oceans no longer protected us from invaders.  In the 1960’s this was even more evident with the Cuban Missile Crisis.  And recently with the Chinese balloon overfly and Russia “war games” with Cuba.

The US military is our major national security defense from foreign aggressors.  Although the Department of Defense (DoD) confirms that there are more than 320 military bases and installations in the US, many of them are incapable of defending the US because of size and/or location. 

Between 1954 to 2024, only eleven (11) new bases have been constructed. 

• 3 in California, (1952, 1961, 1964)
• 1 in Arkansas (1955)
• 2 in North Dakota, (1957, 1957)
• 1 in Mississippi, (1961)
• 1 New York (1974)
• 1 in Georgia (1979)
• 1 in Colorado (1985)
• 1 in Washington (1994)

Nearly 60% of all active-duty personnel are located in 7 states.

1. Washington
2. California
3. Texas
4. Florida
5. Georgia
6. North Carolina
7. Virginia

Note: All 7 states are ocean border states and also have military bases either on or easily accessible to the coast.

Now back to San Diego.

San Diego and Imperial counties are California’s southernmost counties that share their southern county lines with the US/Mexico border.  While both counties are essential to US security, both are also strategic, for different reasons, to foreign aggressors wishing to attack the US.  Geographically, the two counties are separated by the Peninsular Ranges (part of the north-south Coast Ranges that run parallel to California’s coast.

Imperial county’s Navy air base – NAF El Central – is a training facility for naval aviators to develop and hone their combat skills.  This facility is strategic to aggressors because it lies to the east of the Peninsular Ranges making for easier ground invasion into the US.

To the west of the Peninsular Ranges is San Diego county, home to the 4th largest port in California and one of 18 commercial “strategic ports,” that supports US military cargo and vessel operations. 

San Diego is the homeport of our Pacific Fleet and is the largest military concentration in the world.  This makes it a premier target for China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and non-state terrorists.

Among the military facilities and units are

Naval Base Coronado – encompasses 8 facilities from

1. San Clemente Island
2. Naval Air Station North Island
3. Naval Amphibious Base
4. Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach
5. Naval Auxiliary Landing Field San Clemente Island
6. Mountain Warfare Training Camp
7. Camp Morena
8. Remote Training Site, Warner Springs

Naval Base San Diego – has approximately 150 separate commands and other support facilities

Naval Base Point Loma – consists of seven facilities

1. Submarine Base
2. Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command
3. Fleet Combat Training Center
4. Naval Information Warfare Systems Command
5. Naval Information Warfare Center
6. Fleet Intelligence Command Pacific
7. Naval Consolidated Brig

US Department of Defense – Navy Recruitment Department

San Diego county is also home to more than:

• 25 major aerospace and defense companies
• 24 major biotech companies
• 16 computer software development companies
• 15 major semiconductor companies
• 7 major telecommunications companies
• 6 major finance and insurance companies
• 6 major health companies
• 6 major internet companies
• 5 major transportation and logistics companies
• 5 major energy companies

All the companies in these ten categories have essential roles in assuring our nation’s national security, both directly and indirectly.

There is no doubt that the occupation of San Diego county by a foreign aggressor would play a strategic role in forwarding its agenda.  Biden’s open border and immigration policies put the nation and San Diego at risk of attack.  Many experts believe that in case of war with Iran, China or North Korea, San Francisco would likely be targeted for a nuclear attack.  The results of such an attack for San Diego would probably include radioactive fallout and electro-magnetic pulse destruction.

However, given the strategic importance San Diego and Los Angeles would have to our adversaries, there is the chance that a nuclear attack would not occur because it would make both areas inaccessible for use.  Therefore, the most likely scenario would be to attack and take over San Diego and El Centro in Imperial County.  Such an attack would initially be carried out terrorist cells located in both counties.