One of Southern California’s largest wildfires has frightened many illegal immigrants from hiking through a popular corridor to cross from Mexico even as the Border Patrol has withdrawn some agents. Some consider the Border Patrol’s pullback an opportunity, but a three-hour drive through ash-covered hills on Tuesday suggests that many others are staying put in Mexico. “They’re holding back,” Mark Mahler, a Border Patrol agent, said as he kept watch over an evacuated highway checkpoint that was closed on Monday on State Route 94. The checkpoint on the two-lane highway, which narrowly escaped damage, is normally a major obstacle for illegal crossers. The fire left miles of black ash in the canyons around Dulzura, an evacuated hamlet about 25 miles east of San Diego, where dozens of homes were destroyed. Thousands of foot trails once covered by dense shrub were laid bare. Many illegal immigrants appeared to heed the advice of the Border Patrol and the Mexican government, aired on television and radio in Tijuana, Mexico, to stay away from the fires.
