Just when you thought the wave of illegal immigration coming from the U.S.’s southern border was demoralizing enough, it appears that something else may be drifting its way up from Mexico.

According to a new report from the Daily Mail, beaches in San Diego have been shut down due to a “disgusting discovery”, which it described as “sewage creating frighteningly high levels of bacteria in the open waters”. 

The report says that water contact closures have been issued for Silver Strand Shoreline, Imperial Beach Shorelines, and the Tijuana Slough Shoreline along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Additionally, advisories were issued for La Jolla, Children’s Pool, Coronado, Coronado Lifeguard Tower, Ocean Beach, Dog Beach, San Diego River outlet, Mission Bay, North Cove, and Vacation Isle, the Mail reported.

Imperial Beach, ranked as the dirtiest beach in the U.S., has bright yellow warning signs due to sewage flowing in from Tijuana, the Mail said, citing KGTV.

Dr. Marvel Harrison was quoted as saying: “The level of stress when you smell the stench, when you get sick and you worry about your children, and the level of stress and the depression is real.”

“We need our state and federal governments to declare a state of emergency,” added San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer. “Our community deserves clean air and clean water, and we will not rest until this is resolved.”

The report noted that out of “thousands” of water samples from “across the nation” tested by The Surfrider Foundation, every single sample from Imperial Beach turned up “bacteria counts that exceeded the state’s health standard for recreational waters”. 

City officials plan to gather data and secure funding to address the sewage problem affecting the beach city.

The Surfrider Foundation reported that 64% of tested sites had unsafe bacteria levels, with California accounting for a quarter of these samples. Other polluted locations include Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica and the mouth of San Luis Obispo Creek.