OK this is the last border article I promise......but something needs to be done!! Do the Math.
A National Park Ranger's Finest Hour
Commentary by Frosty Wooldridge
May 12, 2004
Sunrises spray golden confetti across the eastern sky. Blazing summer heat pops thermometers at 124 degrees Fahrenheit. To keep cool, lizards do pushups on rocks. Saguaro cacti raise their limbs like outlaws as if being told by a lawman, “Stick ‘em up, you’re under arrest.”
Welcome to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Southwestern Arizona on the border of Mexico—the most dangerous national park (monument) in the United States. If you visit, you could be killed at a campsite or on a hike if you happen to cross paths with 21st century desperadoes. This national treasure lays on the boundary with Mexico where assassins, drug smugglers and human traffickers ply their trade 24/7.
Franklin D. Roosevelt established this 312,000-acre preserve in 1937. But today, it’s a war zone. Mexican outlaws driving stolen SUV’s smash fences while running drugs and illegal aliens into the United States. Where do they obtain their ‘outlaw transportation’? Phoenix became the car-jacking capitol of the United States last year with 57,600 stolen vehicles.
Driving into the monument beckons backpackers and adventure seekers who love desert solitude and wonder. Rangers offer campfire talks while guiding visitors to remote areas in the monument where they discover rare birds, thriving desert flowers and deer.
But Americans face an abrupt reality at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. In excess of 400,000 illegal aliens cross over its boundaries annually. While snoozing in my tent last week, border patrol agents arrested 118 illegal aliens in one night--crossing through the park on their way into America. Those arrests were within a kilometer of my camp. They missed another 400 illegals. One ranger reported that illegals walk right up to campsites and board pre-arranged recreational vehicles for their trips out of the park. The human smuggling rings’ efficiency ratings rival UPS (United Parcel Service) and Greyhound. Smugglers pick up and deliver 24/7!
The ‘coyotes’ shepherding illegals won’t kill you, but the drug smugglers will.
While driving up to the visitor center, you will notice a Smoky Bear Hat beside a bronze plaque honoring handsome National Parks Ranger Kris Eggle. On the building it reads, ‘Kris Eggle Visitor Center’. Whereas you might think it honors a man who gave his best in a 30-year career, you would be wrong. On August 9, 2002, Mexican drug smugglers shot and killed 28 year old Kris Eggle in cold blood as he patrolled in the park’s backcountry. The previous night, his killer had assassinated four other people on a drug-related transfer.
What is beyond disgusting is the fact that Eggle’s murderer’s accomplice was the United States Congress as well as the present and past three presidents of this country. They encouraged, by not enforcing immigration laws, this invasion before 9/11 and have done nothing since Eggle’s murder. When illegal aliens successfully break into this country, Congress rewards them the Dream Act, food stamps, assisted housing, free schooling K-12, free medical, driver’s licenses, SSI benefits, ‘anchor babies’ get welfare to age 18 and we pay for their ESL language classes. Congress’ actions have given us 13 million illegal aliens and growing fast!
What has this done to us? Terrorists, drug smugglers and human traffickers walk and drive over the border with Mexico 24/7. Tom Ridge’s Homeland Security red, yellow and orange alerts represent a cotton candy charade for terrorists. According to the US Border Patrol in January, 2004, 92,521 aliens were caught. That’s up from 86,925 apprehensions in 2003. But what sickens you is the fact that only one in five is caught! Once captured, agents bus them to the border and free them for another chance—by command of Congress. I interviewed one illegal alien who smiled upon arrest saying, “This is my 11th time being captured and I will try again.” On any given day, 2,200 illegal aliens ‘make it’ into the United States. Stash houses await successful illegals for transport into America’s interior. Hundreds of miles of trails cross through the desert in one direction—the USA.
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http://www.washingtondispatch.com/article_9024.shtml