Fishy: Obama Administration to Close Nine Border Patrol Stations

Townhall.com ^ | July 11, 2012 | Katie Pavlich

[Kaslin]

Just one month after President Obama signed a back door amnesty executive order for hundreds of thousands of young illegal aliens, his administration is now planning to shut down nine Border Patrol stations, something the people living in border states, Border Patrol agents, local Sheriffs and some Congressman are up in arms about.

Critics of the move warn the closures will undercut efforts to intercept drug and human traffickers in well-traveled corridors north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Though the affected stations are scattered throughout northern and central Texas, and three other states, the coverage areas still see plenty of illegal immigrant activity -- one soon-to-be-shuttered station in Amarillo, Texas, is right in the middle of the I-40 corridor; another in Riverside, Calif., is outside Los Angeles.

So what's the reason for the move? Homeland Security says it is to reallocate resources to other hot spots but illegal immigration, along with drug and human trafficking, are like water and they flow where the openings are.

"These deactivations are consistent with the strategic goal of securing America's borders, and our objective of increasing and sustaining the certainty of arrest of those trying to enter our country illegally," CBP spokesman Bill Brooks said in a statement. "By redeploying and reallocating resources at or near the border, CBP will maximize the effectiveness of its enforcement mandate and align our investments with our mission."

But at least one Border Patrol supervisor in Texas has called on local officers to "voice your concerns" to elected officials, warning that the "deactivation" will remove agents from the Texas Panhandle, among other places. Several members of Congress have asked Border Patrol Chief Michael Fisher to reconsider the plan. And local officials are getting worried about what will happen once the Border Patrol leaves town, since they rely on those federal officials to assist in making immigration arrests.

And as usual, local law enforcement will suffer the consequences of the move.

"It could impact us tremendously since we've only got two agents up here now for 26 counties," Potter County Sheriff Brian Thomas told FoxNews.com.

Potter County, in the Texas Panhandle, would be affected by the planned closure of the Amarillo station.   

Thomas said that while his area is far from the border, it's still a major "corridor" for illegal immigrants -- and he said his office depends on Border Patrol to respond to their calls.

"I can't hold a carload of people out there on I-40 for eight hours while somebody comes from El Paso," he said. "I mean, that's just crazy."

[txnuke]

This is a one/two punch if I’ve ever seen one. Close down these stations and force neighboring stations to cover the slack. Next, require better enforcement of the area’s where the stations were closed leaving the operational station basically un-guarded. Bad guys do bad things by the OPEN station (because it is basically un—staffed at this point) and when a bad guy is caught deep in the United States, blame the Border Patrol and close more stations because “the Border patrol is not doing their jobs and costing the tax payers money; we’ll use drones instead...”. We become completely borderless.

You know, this makes more sense than anything I have seen so far. I realize the Democratic party wants more votes and illegal immigrants could be a source of new voters for them, that just seems like a thin and unreliable gruel for such [power]-hungry organizations.

Thanks for your paranoia, your input and insight. The devious nature and the plans prepared for us exceed that which we imagine.