More than 20 illegal immigrants in southern California attempted to board school buses on two separate occasions as the buses were on routes transporting children, school district officials said.
Two bus routes in the Jamul-Dulzura Union School District were interrupted by groups of illegal immigrants earlier this week, forcing the school district to warn parents to “stay [vigilant],” Fox 5 San Diego reported. The first incident happened on Tuesday afternoon and involved three men walking in the middle of the road and trying to get the school bus filled with children to stop. Superintendent Liz Bystedt said that the bus had to “go around” the group to continue on its route.
On Wednesday, another bus stopped at a designated pick-up spot near where the bus from Tuesday was forced to drive around illegal immigrants and was met with a group of 20 illegal immigrants who attempted to board the bus. Bystedt said that parents who were at the bus stop waiting with their children ensured that the kids made it onto the bus safely and that no illegal immigrants boarded.
It is unknown if the groups are connected, the Fox report said.
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The superintendent said that the district reported both bus incidents to the U.S. Border Patrol, California Highway Patrol, and San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, according to Fox 5.
“The San Diego Sheriff’s Office was made aware of this incident today. We are conducting a follow up investigation to determine if a criminal act has occurred. The Sheriff’s Office takes issues regarding student safety very seriously and are working with the school district in order to keep the students and our community safe,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Jamul is just 25 miles from the Mexican border city of Tijuana. The San Diego sector has been a hot spot for illegal border crossing this year, with more than 37,000 arrests made by the U.S. Border Patrol in the area in April, the Associated Press reported.
As authorities investigate the incidents, the school district said that bus drivers will drive past any bus stops where suspected illegal immigrants are present and told parents to follow the bus to the next stop “for the safety of students and bus drivers.”
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“Please stay [vigilant] and if the bus drives by, please follow the bus to pick up your child at the next stop,” Bystedt wrote in an email to parents. She added that the district’s director of maintenance and operations would begin following the buses to “ensure that everything was quiet.”