Rink
08-14-2006, 02:31 PM
Developers pushing illegal inhabitants, their chapel, off land set to become new neighborhood
By Elena Gaona
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 13, 2006
In what may seem like déjà vu, people living in migrant camps in McGonigle Canyon will be ordered to move soon.
It will be the latest attempt to clear people living in illegal huts from the undeveloped land between Carmel Valley and Rancho Peñasquitos, an area that is shrinking as it gives way to new houses.
An outdoor chapel with a small stucco altar, pews and a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe that has served canyon residents for more than 15 years probably will be torn down.
This eviction, officials say, could be the last.
“This is an ongoing situation,” said Pam Hardy, spokeswoman for Scott Peters, the San Diego City Council president who is spearheading the current plan to clear the camps. “We hope a coordinated effort this time is successful.”
Peters' office is working with police and at least six landowners in McGonigle Canyon to post no-trespassing signs within 30 days – the date has not been officially set – and begin enforcing them, Hardy said. The landowners include a trust under the name Robert Barczewski, developers Pardee Homes and DR Horton, the city of San Diego, the Poway Unified School District and a group using the name Horseshoe Investors.
Two years ago, camps were removed from the Barczewski and Pardee properties, Hardy said, only to have them to crop up on the DR Horton land, a more interior parcel. That's why Peters contacted all the landowners this time, Hardy said.
Environmental and public health concerns are prompting this latest effort, Hardy said, as well as “increasingly hostile relations between supporters of migrants and opponents of illegal immigration.”
Many of the men living in the canyon are undocumented, though not all, police say. Immigration agents will not be present when the no-trespassing signs are first enforced, said Capt. Jim Collins of the San Diego Police Department's Northeast Division.
An encounter last month between Minutemen and their supporters and a mobile health clinic that visits the camp to treat workers was described by police as a pushing and shouting match that led to no injuries or arrests. But people on both sides said they felt threatened, and men in the camps say they are often harassed by Minutemen filming there.
At least two documentary filmmakers from Los Angeles – one a self-described Minuteman supporter, the other who says he wants to document “the Third World living conditions” in the camps – have spent months filming, too. They describe scenes ranging from men living in huts with snakes and rodents to encampments littered with beer cans and condoms.
Nearby residents say condoms found at the camp are evidence of prostitution. Collins said there is no evidence of prostitution or human trafficking at the camp, but said police are still gathering information.
Meanwhile, community groups that offer supplies and medical and spiritual services for the migrant workers say they will follow the men . . . again.
More on this Story (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060813-9999-2m13canyon.html)
By Elena Gaona
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 13, 2006
In what may seem like déjà vu, people living in migrant camps in McGonigle Canyon will be ordered to move soon.
It will be the latest attempt to clear people living in illegal huts from the undeveloped land between Carmel Valley and Rancho Peñasquitos, an area that is shrinking as it gives way to new houses.
An outdoor chapel with a small stucco altar, pews and a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe that has served canyon residents for more than 15 years probably will be torn down.
This eviction, officials say, could be the last.
“This is an ongoing situation,” said Pam Hardy, spokeswoman for Scott Peters, the San Diego City Council president who is spearheading the current plan to clear the camps. “We hope a coordinated effort this time is successful.”
Peters' office is working with police and at least six landowners in McGonigle Canyon to post no-trespassing signs within 30 days – the date has not been officially set – and begin enforcing them, Hardy said. The landowners include a trust under the name Robert Barczewski, developers Pardee Homes and DR Horton, the city of San Diego, the Poway Unified School District and a group using the name Horseshoe Investors.
Two years ago, camps were removed from the Barczewski and Pardee properties, Hardy said, only to have them to crop up on the DR Horton land, a more interior parcel. That's why Peters contacted all the landowners this time, Hardy said.
Environmental and public health concerns are prompting this latest effort, Hardy said, as well as “increasingly hostile relations between supporters of migrants and opponents of illegal immigration.”
Many of the men living in the canyon are undocumented, though not all, police say. Immigration agents will not be present when the no-trespassing signs are first enforced, said Capt. Jim Collins of the San Diego Police Department's Northeast Division.
An encounter last month between Minutemen and their supporters and a mobile health clinic that visits the camp to treat workers was described by police as a pushing and shouting match that led to no injuries or arrests. But people on both sides said they felt threatened, and men in the camps say they are often harassed by Minutemen filming there.
At least two documentary filmmakers from Los Angeles – one a self-described Minuteman supporter, the other who says he wants to document “the Third World living conditions” in the camps – have spent months filming, too. They describe scenes ranging from men living in huts with snakes and rodents to encampments littered with beer cans and condoms.
Nearby residents say condoms found at the camp are evidence of prostitution. Collins said there is no evidence of prostitution or human trafficking at the camp, but said police are still gathering information.
Meanwhile, community groups that offer supplies and medical and spiritual services for the migrant workers say they will follow the men . . . again.
More on this Story (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060813-9999-2m13canyon.html)