EL CAJON, California — Customers packed Cory Gautereaux’s small gun store northeast of San Diego on a recent Friday afternoon.
Many of the people buying pistols at Firearms Unlimited California said they were concerned about the massive number of migrants being released onto the local streets after the area became a hub for the crisis at the border — which is just 25 miles from El Cajon, a Southern California suburb of 105,000 people.
“My wife and I have had home defense guns for many years. Recently, though, with all the stuff that’s happening south of the border and all the people coming over, my concerns have broadened,” said Keith Carnevale, one of the shop’s customers, who’s armed his entire family. 4 Cory Gautereaux stands at the cash register in his gun store, Firearms Unlimited California, near San Diego. Jennie Taer
“I don’t think it’s just the people that are coming over to try to find work, I think we have a lot of hostile people that are coming over with ill will, ill intent that will potentially cause chaos.”
Roughly 125,000 migrants have been released onto the streets in the San Diego area since September, which has been unsettling for Firearms Unlimited California owner Cory Gautereaux and his customers.
After Texas worked to seal off large swaths of its border with Mexico with razor wire and boots on the ground, more migrants started making their way to California.
The Border Patrol saw a daily average of 1,200 migrants crossing into the San Diego region illegally during the week ending on Feb. 4, while some of Texas’ busiest sectors averaged just hundreds of crossings during that time period, according to government data obtained by CBS News.
In Texas’ Del Rio border area, migrant apprehensions dropped to 200 a day the week of Feb. 4 — compared to the 2,300 daily crossings in December.
“The problem for people that live around the gun store is the street dropoffs,” Gautereaux said. 4 Gautereaux said many of his customers are concerned about migrants being released on local streets. Jennie Taer
The US Border Patrol has begun busing migrants who claim asylum into the community and releasing them onto the streets, he said.
“That’s driven business to us,” he added.
Keith’s son, Anthony Carnevale, who came with him to buy a gun of his own, said the area is just not equipped to handle the huge numbers of street releases. 4 Anthony Carnevale told The Post that the area isn’t prepared to handle the amount of migrants being relased. Jennie Taer
“I don’t think it’s just a matter of the numbers of undocumented people, I think a lot of people are concerned about the state of our own government to be just allowing this and why,” Anthony said.
Local Sharie Finn told The Post that the border issue “1,000%” plays a role in her decision to buy a gun, pointing to the Glock pistol in her bag. Keep up with today's most important news
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She and her husband, Wally, run an organization that helps families find their missing loved ones — some of whom have been victims of predators who were in the country illegally.
“I have that with me everywhere I go,” Sharie Finn said. 4 Customers shopping at Firearms Unlimited California. Jennie Taer
Migrants continue to be released onto the streets in and around San Diego because Border Patrol processing centers in the region have more than twice as many as they can hold, according to agency data recently obtained by The Post. see also Migrants thank Biden for letting them in as US Border Patrol’s San Diego processing centers reach eye-popping 245% capacity
El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells acknowledges his residents don’t feel safe because of the flood of illegal border crossers in his city.
“We see the massive amounts of violence that’s happening, a lot from the immigrant situation, but a lot from the homeless situation as well,” Wells told The Post, adding: “People are frightened and I do believe they’re arming themselves more.”
The Border Patrol can only hold migrants for up to 72 hours, and the challenge of processing them quickly while also conducting background checks has become overwhelming.
In one case in March 2023, border agents arrested and released Afghan national Mohammad Kharwin, 48, whose name appeared on the terror watchlist.
The FBI notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that he was a suspected member of the US-designated terror group Hezb-e-Islami, but that didn’t happen until almost a year after his release.
ICE arrested Kharwin on Feb. 28 in San Antonio, Texas, but an immigration judge subsequently ordered his release again without knowing of his alleged ties to a group that has carried out numerous deadly attacks on US soldiers in Afghanistan.
The Department of Homeland Security told The Post that Kharwin is in custody.
