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88-CRIME Offers Cash For Border-Crossing Tips
Arizona Daily Star ^
| April 30, 2004
| Michael Marizco
Posted on 05/01/2004 9:50:44 AM PDT by DumpsterDiver
The county's anonymous tipster line that pays rewards for information that helps solve crimes will now offer cash for incidents related to illegal immigration.
88-CRIME announced Thursday that it has expanded its services to the U.S. Border Patrol in hopes that Arizonans will report smugglers, vehicles carrying illegal border crossers and people who might have kidnapped illegal entrants. 88-CRIME is the anonymous tip line of the Pima County Attorney's Office.
The new effort is making some Tucsonans who work with immigrants uneasy.
They worry Hispanics will become instant suspects, causing a flurry of racial profiling in hopes of snagging cash rewards.
The Mexican government applauds the program - so long as the situation doesn't get out of hand.
"It's a benefit, disrupting the smuggling lines and attacking the safe houses, because those are all part of the problem," said Miguel Escobar, the Mexican consul in Douglas.
"But we don't want to see a medium brought in to combat serious problems turned into a situation where people are being detained for the color of their skin. I'm hoping we will not navigate in those very troubled waters," he said.
Officials with both 88-CRIME and the Border Patrol said they are not interested in having illegal border crossers being turned in.
"We're not looking for people calling to say there's UDAs walking down the road," said John Fitzpatrick, the acting assistant chief patrol agent for the Tucson sector, using the acronym for undocumented aliens. "That will help to discourage the racially motivated calls."
He pointed to specific tips people should be looking for, including:
-- Houses with large numbers of cars coming and going at all hours. -- Dozens of people arriving at homes, then disappearing.
-- People who tipsters think might be people-smugglers.
"The more eyes and ears we have, the more it will help law enforcement in Arizona," said Dale Brown, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement assistant special agent in charge in Tucson. "We need the help of the public." About 30 percent of the calls the Border Patrol receives through its toll-free number, 877-USBP-HELP, lead to uncovering safe houses, homes used to house illegal entrants before moving them to other cities, Fitzpatrick said.
He hopes the 88-CRIME involvement will raise the number of safe houses the agency busts.
Such tips could lead to unwarranted problems for Hispanics or motorists whose vehicles carry Mexican license plates, a member of a local human-rights group said.
"I think it's going to result in people being suspicious of each other and snooping around each other," said Kat Rodriguez of Derechos Humanos. "It's going to definitely play on racial stereotypes."
The critics' critics say they're being "thin-skinned."
"All I know is, there are too many illegal aliens. Anything we can do to further the process of catching these people, arresting them and taking care of them, I'm all for it," said Wes Bramhall, head of Arizonans for Immigration Control. "If people want to be thin-skinned, so be it," he said.
Since January, 88-CRIME has turned over about 50 calls to the Border Patrol in Southern Arizona, about 10 percent of which resulted in convictions and payoffs, said Gary Dhaemers, 88-CRIME's executive director.
By comparison, last year the organization fielded a small handful of calls that were turned over to the federal immigration officials. That's due in large part to a reorganization last year in which the Immigration and Naturalization Service was disbanded and housed under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, leaving confusion over which agency should receive such tips.
"During that transition period, it was difficult to find somebody to get the information to," Dhaemers said. "Now it's going where it's supposed to go."
Contact reporter Michael Marizco at 573-4213 or mmarizco@azstarnet.com
TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aliens; arizona; crime; illegalaliens; immigrantlist; immigration
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The Mexican government applauds the program - so long as the situation doesn't get out of hand.Officials with both 88-CRIME and the Border Patrol said they are not interested in having illegal border crossers being turned in.
Whatever...
To: gubamyster
ping
To: *immigrant_list; A Navy Vet; Lion Den Dan; Free the USA; Libertarianize the GOP; madfly; B4Ranch; ..
ping
To: HiJinx; Spiff; idratherbepainting; JackelopeBreeder; AZHSer; Sabertooth; Marine Inspector; ...
Now to see just how widely this gets publicized first for the states bordering Mexico then the ones bordering Canada.
4
posted on
05/01/2004 10:39:00 AM PDT
by
SandRat
(Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
To: DumpsterDiver
That Bramhall guy should not have let the race card be played without any rebuttal. Whenever the Left's ace is played it should be instantly and vigourously counterattacked otherwise it taints everything, just like skunk scent at a garden party.
5
posted on
05/01/2004 11:03:25 AM PDT
by
junta
To: junta
The Left's Ace:
To: NewRomeTacitus
That's good.
7
posted on
05/01/2004 11:20:10 AM PDT
by
junta
To: junta
Whenever the Left's ace is played it should be instantly and vigourously counterattacked ...I agree.
"I think it's going to result in people being suspicious of each other and snooping around each other," said Kat Rodriguez of Derechos Humanos. "It's going to definitely play on racial stereotypes."
The more illegal aliens there are from Mexico, the more "suspicious" people become. With millions of illegals here from Mexico the "racial stereotype" is becoming a fact.
To: junta
Accusations of racism are not born of real outrage or upset sensibilities, but is just one of a list of tactics to dis-empower conservative opposition. Once an opponent has been "tagged" with the term "racist" that opponent is put on defensive footing, forced to waste time and effort rebutting the smear.
That's why the accusation of racism flies mechanically from the mouths of liberals whenever logic and reason threaten to counter their lies. Note how recently even Hispanic-descended citizens who defend America's sovereignty are subject to this slander.
To: DumpsterDiver
The Mexican government applauds the program - so long as the situation doesn't get out of hand. And just what constitutes "out of hand" I wonder? Sucessful? Actually working?
Or could it be that this opens a pipline of information and tips that the mexicans can't bribe?
10
posted on
05/01/2004 11:34:41 AM PDT
by
TLI
(...........ITINERIS IMPENDEO VALHALLA..........)
To: NewRomeTacitus
And that is why the lefties must be vigorously attacked when they spew the race card, and I'm not talking about Trent Lott whimpering or the "I have black friends" mealy mouth crap but strong blunt words. As a prediction I'll say that the first articulate conservative politician who can verbally destroy the "white guilt" complex and the race card weapon stands to gather more power than what's imaginable.
11
posted on
05/01/2004 11:42:27 AM PDT
by
junta
To: TLI
And just what constitutes "out of hand" I wonder? Sucessful? Actually working?You have it pegged correctly.
To: DumpsterDiver
They're all so worried about offending Mexicans. I don't see any officials too concerned about how offended Americans are at the invasion of their communities. Where is the concern for those of us who are putting up with the mess??
13
posted on
05/01/2004 11:56:57 AM PDT
by
janetgreen
(Wake Up, President Bush - California has been invaded!)
To: DumpsterDiver
"Officials with both 88-CRIME and the Border Patrol said they are not interested in having illegal border crossers being turned in."
Even considering the context that is a very disturbing statement from a person who's duties include securing the border.
To: NewRomeTacitus
Even considering the context that is a very disturbing statement from a person who's duties include securing the border.Add this to the mix:
...statements reported April 27 in the Houston Chronicle by BICE Agent in Charge Joseph Webber, and U.S. Representative Gene Green (D-TX), who called a special meeting to announce that they had no plans to arrest, deport, or in any way hassle the scores of aliens illegally living and working in the Houston area. Some 400 people attended the meeting.
And a big Amen! to this:
"The job of federal immigration authorities is not to assure illegal aliens they can work and travel without fear of arrest or deportation," said Tancredo
To: DumpsterDiver
To: NewRomeTacitus
"The Twighlight Zone".A very nice piece of work. It needs to be mailed to more than just a few congress-critters. (Not that they care.)
To: DumpsterDiver; gubamyster; HiJinx; B4Ranch; hedgetrimmer; longtermmemmory; spodefly; ...
Thank you. I got the amazing opportunity to speak with Mr. Tancredo alone for a few minutes and was surprised to learn that he wasn't as aware of all the malarkey going on as much as we in the informal FR illegal immigration group are. His interest in my recounting some of the stories that you and I now regard as old hat made me realize how even the best people we have representing us are insulated by the demands on their time and attention (and well-meaning assistants trying to filter their boss's work-load).
So, you are absolutely right that we need to communicate often to our Congressmen and do so repeatedly if we hope for our message to eventually be recieved and considered. Mr. Tancredo confirmed my suspicion that written letters mailed on paper get more attention now due to email being abused so badly, so write away.
I've been hesitant to talk about this since I picked up a whiff of "Yeah, sure you did" attitude from other members after posting the speech. I stand by what I report and have no reason to lie about anything (I was once admonished for posting my real name too often, not considering the bad people out there who would use that info against me). I'm as respectful of Mr. Tancredo's privacy as I would anyone who spoke with me in the spirit of confidentiality. I will say that he fervently believes in his cause and is punished severely for taking the moral high road. Colorado is blessed to have him as a Representative.
Sorry for running on; this has been bugging me for a while. I'm open to suggestions on moral obligations versus "scoops". I'm also a bit more addled than usual fighting Bell's palsy, though unlike terminal ignorance it's almost always recoverable (Mom was right, it froze that way).
To: NewRomeTacitus
I'd happy to forward some dirt on illegal immigration, my mother is getting for me, to Mr.Tancredo.
19
posted on
05/01/2004 3:20:55 PM PDT
by
cyborg
To: cyborg
We build this idea up in our minds that the folks we see in the media have powers beyond mere mortals as ourselves and are privy to knowledge denied the common rabble, when often quite the opposite is true. This helps explain (to some extent) some of the totally boneheaded moves our recent presidents have made. George Bush the Senior was so insulated for so long that he had no idea what the price of some common groceries were (and the press had a field day on that one).
The founders wanted our representatives to roughly represent ourselves and not be dominated by professional politicians, attorneys and scalawags who couldn't earn a living on their own merits. Currently there are some up there who fit in all three of those categories.
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