Three vehicles piled with Russian illegal immigrants made a run at the U.S. border on Sunday, drawing gunfire from a Homeland Security officer.
A Mercedes and a Ford SUV rushed toward the San Ysidro border crossing at a high rate of speed, and a Customs and Border Protection officer who was walking among the cars awaiting entry fired at the Mercedes, the government said.
The bullets didn’t wound anyone, but the Mercedes crashed into the Ford and two people in the Mercedes were injured, CBP said Tuesday.
Officers found 18 Russians among the two vehicles.
At the same time, a Dodge Durango traveling in a different lane and going with the flow of traffic was also stopped and officers found eight more Russian illegal immigrants.
CBP didn’t say whether there were factors beyond the speeding vehicles that led to the officer drawing a weapon and firing. Both San Diego police and CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility are investigating the shooting.
The Ford and Mercedes drivers, a 29-year-old man and a 24-year-old man, have both been arrested and face migrant smuggling charges.
The Russian migrants ranged from a baby to a 53-year-old.
While Mexicans, Salvadorans, Hondurans and Guatemalans account for most border jumpers, other nationalities are part of the illegal immigration surge.
Over the last five months of fiscal year 2021, those from outside Mexico and the three Northern Triangle countries accounted for about 28% of all illegal border crossing encounters by CBP.
