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| Guard presence drops illegal crossing 62% |
| 2007-02-15 |
| One phrase sums up both the chief achievement and complaint of National Guard soldiers and airmen posted along this dusty strip of border with Mexico: "Nothing happening." That's good news for Operation Jumpstart, President Bush's eight-month-old initiative to reinforce America's southern border with National Guard troops until enough border patrol agents are trained. The extra troops appear to be discouraging people from trying to cross illegally. Apprehensions of illegal immigrants in the Yuma sector – one of the busiest for the past two years and a top target for the operation – have dropped 62 percent in the last four months compared with the same period a year ago. That's the biggest drop of all nine border patrol sectors on the frontier with Mexico and double the average decline. The amount of marijuana seized in the Yuma sector fell 36 percent for the same period. The figures for the entire southern border – a 27 decline in apprehensions and a 51 percent increase in marijuana seized – are encouraging, experts say. "If those numbers hold [for the entire fiscal year], that would indeed represent a significant drop," says Luis Cabrera, an expert on transnational justice issues at Arizona State University in Tempe. "We're pretty sure there's a deterrence effect." President Bush visited this busy crossing point last May to introduce his program to supplement US border patrol agents with National Guard soldiers and airmen for two years (6,000 the first year, 3,000 the next). Of those, 2,400 are posted in Arizona, which has the two top-priority sectors in the operation – Tucson and Yuma. "We have had 49 states participate in the border mission in Arizona, with 7,758 [troops] coming through Arizona," says Maj. Paul Aguirre, spokesman for Operation Jumpstart in Arizona. "Roughly 40 percent of the effort is in Arizona." Moreover, some 500 additional border patrol agents have bolstered the efforts in the Yuma sector this past year, as have added infrastructure – National Guard helicopters, miles of triple fences, lights, cameras, and sensors. |
| Posted by:Jackal |
| #7 Arm the National Guard and give them orders to shoot and you will see illegal crossings disappear. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-02-15 15:12 |
| #6 Landmines work even better. |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-02-15 13:27 |
| #5 There may be a glimmer of truth here for an odd combination of reasons. First of all, illegal immigration is very publicity driven. That is, many of the illegals are not from the border area and know only what they hear in the news and gossip about it, and how easy it is to cross. If it sounds harder, fewer of them will try to cross. For its part, every time the Mexican government bitches about US restrictions on illegals, it gets lots of attention in the Mexican media. Second, the typical Mexican is terrified of their army, which translates to fear of soldiers in general. They are afraid of the US National Guard, because they probably think that they would treat them like the Mexican army, that is, shoot them and bury them in an shallow grave for no particular reason. Third, it is cold as hell in that desert right now. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-02-15 11:24 |
| #4 "To truly gain operational control of the border – to stop unauthorized immigration in the way people speak about – will resemble a major military operation in cost and size of undertaking." -- how is that a problem? We're at war anyway. Tried to find links but failed. Reports several months old indicate the Border Patrol has cut back on the timeliness of its reports of apprehensions of illegal immigrants. Today another rock-throwing incident on the EL Paso border followed by a BP shooting at someone. See here. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-02-15 10:41 |
| #3 Apropos of this story, and recalling the story of the two Border Patrol agents who are now incarcerated... If Bill Clinton was said to be America's "First Black President", will GWB be known as America's "First Mexican President"? |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-02-15 10:37 |
| #2 With all due respect for N. Guard on the border, Redneck Jim is absolutely correct. The “Apprehension” statistic is simply a single correlation determinate. Furthermore, it is impossible to make any conclusions of trends based on a single year sample. However, this statistic taken at face value actually indicates just the opposite of the intended purpose of the Guards support role. We were told they are there to free up border patrol from routine duties to…uhemm…allow them to make more apprehensions – not less. And remember, Homeland Security always uses increased apprehensions as an indicator of success. Of course, that’s somewhat dubious as well because of the all the other factors that may or may not contribute to success or failure. Bottom line, more boots and eyes on the ground can’t hurt but without clearly defined rules of engagement the funding for the Guards limited role arguably could be better spent. This article is another example of how the immigration phenomena is presented in a fashion to change perception yet it’s based speculation and yes – Bullshit. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2007-02-15 10:16 |
| #1 UUUUMMMMM, a drop in "Aprehensions' does not necessarily mean a drop in crossings, it only means fewer are caught. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-02-15 09:00 |