Immigration Part 2: So close, yet so far

2012-09-20 13:40:14

The engine perished hours earlier.















The islands serve as a staging ground for smugglers looking to move their human cargo on overloaded fishing vessels on a perilous journey from beaches in Rosarito and Ensenada to the California coastline. (Earlier this year, a well-known Orange County sailor and three other yachtsmen died in an accident near the islands during the annual Newport Beach to Ensenada race.)

The Mexican Marines rescue people off the Coronado Islands from time to time, officials said. Some are American sports fishermen in yachts. Some are local Mexican fishermen in smaller vessels. Others seem to be Mexicans heading north, Rivera said.

Some of the people who are rescued by the Mexican Navy look like they've been at sea for quite some time. Often, rescue crews find them thirsty, weathered and weak.

Data is not available on how many of those rescued are would-be immigrants bound for the U.S. Mexican Navy officials don't track that data, and they say their sole task is to rescue people at sea and not ask questions about where they're headed. Also, many of those rescued don't volunteer the information and may even give false identities.

It's not a crime to travel with a boatload of Mexicans south of the U.S.-Mexico border, Rivera pointed out.


By the time Del Valle's smuggler called Ensenada's equivalent of 911, the clock struck 3 a.m. The twinkling light vanished, and all Del Valle saw was inky water. He and the others doused some of the vessel's cushions with gasoline, setting them on fire.

"Please, someone has to see this," he thought to himself. He lighted one of the cushions, scorching his fingers in the process. By this time, he said, he couldn't feel his right leg due to the numbing cold.

Some time after 4 a.m., a spotlight illuminated the boat.

"Are you all OK?" a Mexican official asked from a Navy ship towering over the panga. Mexican officials rescued the men from the sinking vessel, handing them blankets and water to slake their chills and thirst.

"You were heading north, weren't you?" a Navy crew member said to Del Valle. "You're not tourists." The official chastised the men for taking to the sea unprepared – some without life jackets and others without sweaters or jackets.

The weather and water that shape the rocks of the Coronado Islands shift unpredictably from hour to hour. A bright sunny day can easily give way to fog, wind or even hail.

Don Mario said he's heard the stories of immigrants left abandoned on the northern island to fend for themselves. He calls it a daring and dangerous proposition.

A resident of the southern island for about six years, Don Mario doesn't even venture outside his home when it rains or winds pick up. He said he's afraid he may get blown away.

He prefers cold, clear and moonlit nights on the island. He'll stand on his patio, looking out toward the illuminated ocean and the horizon, glittering with Rosarito life. Sometimes, when the night is still and the conditions are just right, he said he can hear the sound of a panga engine zip by.

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