Posted on 09/29/2004 4:11:57 PM PDT by Bald Eagle777
Ridge: No sign of terrorists trying to cross border
Associated Press
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) -Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Monday that he's seen no sign of terrorist efforts to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, and that the United States is not going to start militarizing it.
``We have a long tradition with our friends to the north and south. We're very fortunate that we've never had to assign military to our borders, and we're not going to start that now,'' Ridge said. ``We don't militarize our borders with friends.''
Ridge said that he had seen nothing from any intelligence sources suggesting that terrorists have tried to cross ``this border, this port of entry or any area close to it.''
Ridge, in Nogales to announce two high-tech lanes for cutting waiting times for commercial trucks at the port of the entry here, said the country has made dramatic progress at its ports of entry.
He said the country has also made significant progress between them in boosting security since the Sept. 11 attacks.
``No one is saying it's a fail-safe system,'' he said. ``No one is saying we don't have more work to do.''
But he said the country is safer, that apprehensions of illegal immigrants are up significantly along the Mexican border and that work is continuing to make the situation safer still.
``This is a safer community, but this has been building up. It didn't get done with the Bush administration,'' said Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada, who's a Democrat.
Estrada said that since 1995, the Border Patrol has added resources and infrastructure, increasing the number of agents from fewer than 100 to around 500 now, and secured the border with more secure fencing.
``That has made a big difference,'' said Estrada, noting that there had been out-of-control, cross-border crime until the Border Patrol started beefing up and recognizing the problems that communities like Nogales face.
Asked about civilian groups patrolling the border, Ridge said they should leave matters to law enforcement officers who put their lives at risk every day.
Ridge also touted construction of two FAST lanes, standing for Free and Secure Trade, at the port of entry west of Nogales.
The lanes allow for advance clearance of trucks enrolled in the program carrying known low-risk shipments.
Trucking companies, trucks and drivers enrolled in the program use window decals and FAST commercial driver ID cards that are scanned by a reading device, and a Customs and Border Protection officer verifies approval provided on a computer screen.
Manufacturers or producers enrolled in the program are part of the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, while truck companies must meet security standards and background checks assure the truck drivers have clearance for the program.
The first such lane was dedicated last December in El Paso, which subsequently added a second lane. Others lanes are operating in Laredo and Hidalgo, Texas.
Other FAST lanes are planned at Otay Mesa and Calexico, Calif., and Brownsville, Texas.
On the Net:
Department of Homeland Security: http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/
Sent!
I just read through a bunch of your comments. Awesome. Sharp, witty, and wellwritten.
Ja! I zee nussing. Nussing...
"Friends" don't send millions of their poorest to come live in your house, eat you out of house and home, overload your schools and demand every freebie they can get.
Hard to tell. But Ridge says not to worry.
Let's see...Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican American War...never is a fairly strong word.
9 posted on 09/29/2004 4:20:30 PM PDT by Jeff Head (www.dragonsfuryseries.com) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
Jeff, explain to me if you can how these Lieing sacks of political crap can continue to make those assrrtions. But we can send them (Military) to walk around in Large National Airports with their evil fully Automatic "Assault Weapons" to play guard there?
God help us.
14 posted on 09/29/2004 4:24:40 PM PDT by Jeff Head (www.dragonsfuryseries.com)
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Huh? What? Oh for crips sakes. What a moronic statement!
Out of the *millions* that pour into our country illegally, scattering to all points from Atlanta to Alaska, how in hell would anyone know who they are, what they are, or WTF they are even doing here?
I can't belive Ridge would make such a statement. He ought to resign now, today.
13 posted on 09/29/2004 4:24:27 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (Vote Bush 2004-We have the solutions, Kerry Democrats? Nothing but slogans)
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He certainly has such aspirations since he made plain his interest in becoming VP in 2000.
He's from a big electoral state, served honorably in Vietnam, was a governor, is at the front lines in securing the homeland from terrorists...oh, that's right, he supports a women's right to murder her unborn child.
Hey, so many on this site sing the praises of other pro-abortion contenders (Rudy, for one) that one wonders why Ridge doesn't get similar treatment.
Huh?
How can anyone make such an ignorant statement?
Answer this professor.
If you are looking at a freeway, 8 lanes wide with 80 cars a minute going by 24 hours a day, could you make a statement that there is no evidence that anyone in those vehicles are carrying a firearm?
Out of the *millions* that pour into our country illegally, scattering to all points from Atlanta to Alaska, how in hell would anyone know who they are, what they are, or WTF they are even doing here? It would be absolutely impossible for anyone to know!<
> Face it, Ridge has made yet another moronic statement. Only a complete fool would buy that crap.
If Ridge says we have no problem with our southern borders he has absolutely no business being in charge of Homeland Security.
18 posted on 09/29/2004 4:37:04 PM PDT by politicalwit (NBC,CBS,ABC=Bermuda Triangle of the News Media)
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They get it, they just choose to ignore it.
Illegal immigration is out of control because US businesses employ illegal aliens. People LOVE the cheap lawn care, housecleaning, child care, and general labor provided by illegal immigration.
The only way to stop it is to pay - nobody's willing to fork over the $$ it would take to push illegal immigrants out of the labor market. The cost of goods and services would skyrocket, and the economy would tank.
We've done this to ourselves, by hiring people with no skills to watch our kids, mow our lawns, pick our vegetables and clean our toilets for $3/hr.
Maybe we can Baghdad Bob to help Mr. Ridge come up with something more credible.
-- Joe
The Bush administration has several of these "dummies". Remember Ashcroft lost by a slim margin, the polls were kept open past closing time in key areas, and it was common knowledge that he beat his opponent. (the wife of the previous governor I believe).
"Friends" don't set up meth labs in the back country, defend the labs with weapons, and still live off of the backs of the working man. Of course those that say these people are coming here to work never tell the story of the numbers of illegals in prison for breaking laws, or the vast number of unsolved murders with illegals as suspects that disappeared back home, or into the community. They ALL come here to improve their lives, just that a large percentage want to do so the EZ way, by breaking further laws.
How confident are you Tom?
This tradition of ignoring blatant vote fraud goes back a long way in the Republican Party ... at least back to 1960 when Dick Nixon and Eisenhower had the goods on JFK's outrageous frauds in Illinois (and Texas) but for some reason, decided to let it go.
You'll notice that W NEVER mentions fraud, which I and others believe cost him at least 5 states in 2000.
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