Running family signs off I-5 - San Clemente Checkpoint (San Diego: home, fences)

[cityx]

Just curious ... (so please don't make this a heated debate about illegal immigration because it always turns ugly) …What happened to the signs off I-5 at the San Clemente checkpoint that showed the running family? I noticed last weekend that they disappeared when I was driving back from L.A..
Also, is that still an active checkpoint? I only see a lane designed for freight trucks to stop.

[Encinitan]

Yes, it's still an active Border Patrol check point. There's also one on the 15 near Rainbow, before you get to Temecula. They open the I5 one from time to time and they're always there, around the clock, monitoring traffic northbound.
As for the signs, I have no idea. You say they "disappeared." Who knows if that's true. Maybe they're just being repaired or replaced?
Why would it matter if those signs are there or not?

[cityx]

Originally Posted by Encinitan

Why would it matter if those signs are there or not?

Yes. They are gone.
I never stated if it mattered to me either way. Something that was there for many years and is no longer there would spark natural curiosity as to the reason for their disappearance. Stop trying to suggest that this could be about something else when it was just a simple question.
That's all I will say about that notion.

[sdjimbob]

Signs are not just gone, they are long gone, removed sometime around the time the huge fences went up. Plus supposedly the coyotes don't use that route much anymore...

[Stoney.]

Here's an interesting UT story from 2005 about the history of the signs...

Highway safety sign becomes running story on immigration | The San Diego Union-Tribune

[oddstray]

I always thought, for someone who's illiterate those signs seem to say, "Run across the freeway here!"

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by cityx

Just curious ... (so please don't make this a heated debate about illegal immigration because it always turns ugly) …What happened to the signs off I-5 at the San Clemente checkpoint that showed the running family? I noticed last weekend that they disappeared when I was driving back from L.A..
Also, is that still an active checkpoint? I only see a lane designed for freight trucks to stop.

I travel that route on a regular basis and noticed several years ago that the signs had been removed.

I went through a checkpoint yesterday evening on my way home to Aliso Viejo; my third in four days. I also noticed a long line at the checkpoint during the AM rush.

The Border Patrol is very active there, but the checks seem to be random. That makes sense.

I also occasionally see them stopping cars along the 5, but away from the checkpoint.

[sschibuola]

Originally Posted by sdjimbob

Signs are not just gone, they are long gone, removed sometime around the time the huge fences went up. Plus supposedly the coyotes don't use that route much anymore...

I suspect that is probably the reason the signs are no longer at that location in San Clemente - not needed anymore there. Although the signs can't help but generate some strong cultural or political opinions, I don't believe they were removed due to any blanket policy . . . i.e. last time I was in San Ysidro (less than a month ago), this one was still up:

http://goo.gl/maps/QqH8C

So I think Caltrans still uses them where they feel there is a potential safety issue.

[sschibuola]

Originally Posted by oddstray

I always thought, for someone who's illiterate those signs seem to say, "Run across the freeway here!"

Well, I recall that for a while before the signs came down at San Clemente, they would read "Caution" on top and "Prohibido" on the bottom . . . so someone at Caltrans at one point agreed with your thought . . . .

[malcorub16]

Originally Posted by sschibuola

I suspect that is probably the reason the signs are no longer at that location in San Clemente - not needed anymore there. Although the signs can't help but generate some strong cultural or political opinions, I don't believe they were removed due to any blanket policy . . . i.e. last time I was in San Ysidro (less than a month ago), this one was still up:

http://goo.gl/maps/QqH8C

So I think Caltrans still uses them where they feel there is a potential safety issue.

I've never once encountered a person running accros the 5 or the 805 in my 10 years of driving down there. The deer and turkey signs in Julian make sense because one sees those often, but I think this family sign is outdated and no longer needed. I know for sure people cross to the USA illegally all the time, but my point is these signs on the 5 and 805 are archaic.

This sign is more up with the times.