Stream of immigrants likely to shift to Texas

A young woman is forced to leave her 7-month-old daughter behind as collateral while she tries to come up with money to pay migrant smugglers holding the baby's grandmother. A Mexican man watches helplessly as relatives and friends succumb to triple-digit heat after being led into an isolated stretch of desert by smugglers; 14 migrants die.

Dozens of illegal immigrants are jammed into homes where they are often assaulted and extorted by the people they paid to bring them here.

These examples of violence and misery highlight the consequences of the illegal immigrant trade that drives so much crime in Arizona, the busiest illegal crossing point along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Now that the federal government has launched a massive immigration crackdown in the state, smugglers are expected to find other spots along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border to focus their efforts, adding to those areas' immigration problems as a result.

"If you squeeze a balloon in the middle, it will expand in some other place," said Dennis Smith, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Del Rio, Texas.

The heavy flow of illegal immigrants that has dogged Arizona in recent years has already shifted somewhat to New Mexico and is expected to move to Texas, targeting a central corridor along the Rio Grande, experts and some local officials said.

It's not clear whether the clampdown will push more illegal crossings into California.

Experts said the crackdown may deter some would-be crossers, but illegal workers will continue to come here as long as they can make more in an hour in the United States than they could in a whole day at home.

Smugglers who earn $1,500 to $5,000 for each customer will also continue to find remote and dangerous migration routes where enforcement is weaker, a tactic that contributes to hundreds of deaths each year, experts said.

This isn't the first time migration patterns have shifted. Immigrants funneled into Arizona when the government tightened enforcement in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego during the mid-1990s, leading to a mass of problems for Phoenix and the state.

A new shift has already begun into southwestern New Mexico. Police in the Lordsburg area, where immigrant apprehensions have doubled over the last year, attribute the influx largely to stronger enforcement in Arizona.

"We have always had (illegal immigration), but they know that Arizona is closed, so they are coming here," said Lordsburg police Chief John McDonald.

The Arizona crackdown also will likely push more illegal crossings into the stretch of Texas border between Del Rio and Laredo, said Texas Democratic Congressman Silvestre Reyes, a former Border Patrol chief credited with dramatically reducing illegal crossings in the El Paso metro area in the 1990s.

Border Patrol officials said it's premature to say whether the Arizona crackdown is fueling a rise in immigrant apprehensions in San Diego and at other points in the Southwest.

The increases began late last year and are probably caused by economics and other factors, they said.

The Arizona buildup isn't affecting immigrant traffic in southeastern California, where arrests are down, said David Kim, spokesman for the Border Patrol's El Centro office.

But Christian Ramirez, who oversees immigrant programs for the American Friends Service Committee in San Diego, said the crackdown caused some immigrants who crossed into far southwestern Arizona to later sneak into California as they head north.

Mario Villarreal, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Washington, D.C., said the Southwest will experience a shift, but he wouldn't pinpoint future hot spots.

The shift's full extent and effects on border communities and nearby interior cities aren't yet clear. Villarreal said the government has the flexibility to move resources to where they are needed.

More federal agents and monitoring equipment were brought to Arizona in response to problems the state has faced since becoming the favored crossing point for illegal immigrants in recent years.

More than 40 percent of the 340 migrant deaths along the Southwest border last year were in Arizona. Ranchers complain that immigrants damage their fences and litter land with water bottles and other debris.

Police said kidnappings and killings tied to smuggling rose last year in Phoenix, a hub for transporting illegal immigrants to different spots across the country.

The high profits and low overhead of the illicit business were so attractive that smugglers started kidnapping rival smugglers' customers so their families in Mexico, Central America or elsewhere could be extorted.

Last year's most violent turf dispute, a shooting involving two moving vehicles on Interstate 10 south of Phoenix, left four people dead and several more wounded.

The perils sometimes extended to people who had no ties to smuggling. A small number of families were victims of unsuccessful roadway abduction attempts because, police said, they were Hispanics driving in the types of vehicles favored by smugglers, such as vans.

As smuggling violence soared, the federal government launched a crackdown on smugglers late last year similar to ones used against organized crime. Officials said it lowered crime rates in Phoenix and forced smugglers to move parts of their operations to other cities, such as Los Angeles.

Still, people continued crossing illegally into Arizona, so the border offensive that's bringing in more manpower and technology was launched in March.

It will likely cause migrant deaths to decline in Arizona and rise elsewhere if the crackdown remains strong, said Nestor Rodriguez, co-director of the University of Houston's Center for Immigration Research.

It's not known if the total number will drop across the Southwest, said Rodriguez, whose center has studied border deaths since the mid-1990s. An average of 340 immigrants died in each of the last four years, according to government figures.

The types of deaths could shift. More people could drown in rivers and suffer heat exposure while crossing dense brush in south Texas, Rodriguez said.

"It's a very unfriendly area for people who don't know the terrain," said Rodriguez. He wasn't sure how the shift will affect deaths in New Mexico and California.

Advocates on both ends of the debate said tighter security alone won't solve the country's immigration problems.

The economy needs to improve in Mexico, where the minimum wage is about $4 a day. Even though there's no strong political will for it now, the United States also must change in its policies, they said.

Advocates for limiting immigration said the government must remove incentives for illicit crossings by going after businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

Immigrant supporters said the United States should make it legal for would-be crossers to work here temporarily and let their families visit.

"The pull of those who work here and live here is strong, and it will trump whatever we do otherwise," said Angela Kelley, deputy director of the pro-immigrant National Immigration Forum. "It's just basic human nature to build a better life and to be with the people you love."

Why do these stories always start off with tearjerking appeals about these poor illegals just trying to get by, feed their families, and break my country's laws?

I notice they NEVER start off with poor, unemployed American citizens unable to see a doctor in the emergency room because the cost of paying for illegals has shut down county hospitals.

Nor do they ever talk about the citizen English-speaking children in overcrowded classrooms who aren't learning because the class has 50 kids in it speaking Spanish and teachers have to accomdate them.

Nor do they talk about the victims of violent crime here in the U.S. who have to suffer at the hands of illegal alien criminals who flee back home to escape prosecution.

I've had it. I have NO sympathy for these illegals. Let 'em die in the desert.

(#12 is new)

(COPY AND DISTRIBUTE WIDELY. Revise and extend as you see fit. Start a movement, print a petition, start a political party, confront your legislators, write letters, post posters, drop leaflets. Demand, demand, demand…)

19 POINT ACTION PLAN: Border Violators

1) Close all US borders to illegal entry forthwith by any and all means possible, including military presence.

2) Maintain legitimate immigration levels at modest annual level with requirements that immigrants be employable or sufficiently wealthy for self-support if they do not intend to work, proficient in basic English and willing to be assimilated into American culture and language. All applicants shall provide prints, photos and DNA samples.

3) Legal immigration shall be awarded to individuals on a lottery basis, wherein all countries are given equal status in the immigration lottery, without regards to color or economic plight of originating nation.

4) Individuals of Islamic faith (muslims) from any country shall be denied immigration privileges or entry into the US. Christians and Jews from muslim countries fleeing religious persecution shall receive preferential and accelerated immigration privileges.

5) Detain all border violators, taking photos, prints and DNA samples of said violator while at the same time, checking for out standing warrants. If no warrants are outstanding, return border violators to home country within 20 days via commercial airline and submit cost of such action, including processing and housing costs for said violator, to country of origin. If costs are not paid within 30 days, reduce any and all aid to said country by a like amount.

6) Should any country from which a border violator originates not currently receive any aid from the US, the Justice Department shall be authorized to seize or secure liens on assets owned, managed or registered to that country to the full extent of the obligation.

7) Establish new Guest Worker Visa (GWV) category, renewable every six (6) months, for unskilled labor positions wherein all applicants shall provide prints, photos and DNA samples. Work permitted of such applicants shall be limited to one of several categories, including childcare, lawn/gardening, restaurant staff, cleaning, and the like. Families of GWV workers are not permitted to enter US, nor will the birth of a child in the U.S. to one of GWV status confer citizenship to either parent or child.

8) Any violation of civil or criminal laws shall result in the forfeiture of the GWV and immediate return to originating country.

9) GWV holders shall be prohibited from claiming unemployment benefits, welfare support or free medical service.

10) The originating country of all GWV holders shall be responsible for any loss caused by their citizens, including emergency medical claims and claims resulting from illegal acts committed while in the US.

11) Companies that hire GWV holders shall submit to the Immigration Dept the name and GWV number of that individual, along with a description of employment tasks. Companies that fail to report employment of GWV workers, or hire border violators, shall be subject to fines and penalties.

12) GWV workers shall not receive unemployment compensation but shall be subject to an alternate tax equivalent to the current unemployment tax rate, which shall be withheld and be applied to border patrol activities. GWV workers shall be paid with check, having income tax withheld.

13) Border violators, or any non-citizen not possessing a valid visa, detained by local police for any reason shall be turned over to border control officials for immediate deportation action, except if they face criminal charges in other jurisdictions.

14) Border violators and GWV workers shall be prohibited from voting in local, state and federal elections.

15) Border Violators shall NOT be afforded the rights enjoyed by American citizens, as guaranteed under the constitution.

16) Public education (at institutions supported by taxpayer dollars) at any level (pre-school, kindergarten through the university level,) shall NOT be available to Border Violators (or children of Border Violators) and schools that enroll such individuals shall be subject to penalties.

17) Foreign Students (F/S) (individuals admitted to the U.S. for the purpose of attending any educational facility,) private institution or public (i.e. supported by taxpayer dollars,) must have valid student visas, such visas being in force only if the F/S attends school full-time. F/S shall be required to pay tuition, housing and related costs such that all their educational costs are fully reimbursed to the institution attended. The originating country shall pay for any and all loss caused by students while on U.S. soil.

18) Border Violators seeking emergency medical treatment shall provide pictures, fingerprints and DNA samples along with country of origin, and shall be treated then incarcerated until information provided can be verified. Originating country shall bear the costs of medical treatment and confinement.

19) Children born in the U.S. to border violators, illegal aliens or of foreign nationals in the U.S. for any reason (including temporary visitor, school or work visas,) shall not be eligible for citizenship as circumstances of birth, nor shall the parents or parent’s family members (relatives) be conferred U.S. citizenship as a result of such births.

20) (developing)

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