A sprawling report has revealed escalating tensions between U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents and aid workers assisting migrants in California's rugged borderlands.
Volunteers with nonprofit Border Angels, who hike remote areas near San Diego to leave life-saving supplies, say confrontations with federal agents have become more frequent and politically charged, according to The Guardian.
Osvaldo Ruiz, a Border Angels volunteer coordinator, described a recent encounter where a CBP agent approached him and a fellow volunteer during a water-drop hike. The agent, initially believing them to be migrants, expressed disappointment and remarked that "Daddy Trump has been doing a good job so it's been slow." Ruiz said such interactions have grown more overtly political since the Trump administration re-emphasized enforcement along the border.
"There has been a lot more open hate around the work that we do," Ruiz added. He and others report that surveillance, including drones and helicopters, routinely tracks their movements, and supplies they leave behind are often vandalized. In one instance, a boulder was hurled into a water crate alongside a note reading "America siempre" (America always).
Despite this, Border Angels member continue with their mission, citing the harsh conditions migrants face: near-freezing nights, scorching days, and treacherous terrain that can quickly become fatal. In April alone over 1,300 migrants were apprehended in California between official ports of entry.
Border Angels has operated for nearly 40 years, and their monthly hikes have become more urgent amid declining legal pathways for asylum. The CBP One app, for example, previously used by migrants to schedule appointments, was shut down for asylum processing in January.
The amount of Mexican migrants who have died while attempting to cross into the United States unlawfully has doubled since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, according to comments by Mexico's Secretariat of Foreign Relations (SRE) earlier this week. In all, 181 Mexican nationals have died along the U.S.-Mexico border between January and April 2025, compared to 91 during the same period in 2024.
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