Posted on 04/04/2005 12:44:34 PM PDT by Crackingham
Volunteers who have converged on the Mexican border to watch for illegal immigrants are disrupting U.S. Border Patrol operations by unwittingly tripping sensors that alert agents to possible intruders, an agency spokesman complained Monday. Scores of participants in the Minuteman Project began assembling late last week and planned to begin regular patrols on Monday, in an exercise some law enforcement authorities and civil rights groups fear will result in vigilante violence. Many of the volunteers were recruited over the Internet, and some planned to be armed. Over the past few days, they have set off sensors, forcing agents to respond to false alarms, said Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Jose Maheda.
"Every sensor has to be addressed," Maheda said. "It's taken away from our normal operations."
The volunteers planned to start fanning out Monday across 23 miles of the San Pedro Valley to watch the border and report any illegal activity to federal agents. The idea, according to project organizers, is partly to draw attention to problems on the Arizona-Mexico border, considered the most porous stretch of the 2,000-mile southern border. Of the 1.1 million illegal immigrants caught by the Border Patrol last year, 51 percent crossed into the country at the Arizona border.
Jim Coniglio of Tucson, who plans to patrol with other volunteers this week, said residents in some areas of the border have complained of being "overrun routinely" by migrants. "They're feeling insecure," he said.
The Border Patrol opposes the operation. "The possibility for something going drastically wrong is very high," Maheda said.
You don't get it, do you..
Your "normal operations" are NOT working and Americans are fed up with the results. That's why the Minuteman Project is on the border, calling attention to that fact, and demanding better money, resources, and equipment for the Border Patrol. Stop complaining that your business as usual is being disrupted because business as usual isn't cutting it!
L
LoL.....
Thats rich...
That's the whole idea, you blockhead! Your 'normal operations' have resulted in the largest uncontested foreign invasion in the history of the world! No ... the solar system! No ... the galaxy!
If responding to tripped sensors is not part of your normal operations, then please explain what your normal operations are... it certainly has nothing to do with stopping the illegals, or else these "vigilantes wouldn't be there in the first place. I'm sure the BP has a in-depth job description for every station. Please post them so we, the American people can more understand your "normal operations"
Maheda?
Is he an American?
LOLOLOLOLOLOL
- LOL! Their normal operations probably included ignoring tripped sensors. Now they can't do that because of media exposure.-
Bingo!
Jose Mehada speaks of the Naco area.
I wish to know where this Naco area is.
And I would like some Tostadas, too.
Even the Mexican govt's border crossing guide says, "Don't run away from the Border Patrol, because they will only drop you off back at the border, where you can try again."
If the BP catches 20% of crossers on any given day (a very generous estimate) then they have a 96% chance of making it after 2 tries, and a 99% chance of making it after 3 tries. (20% X 20% X 20%)
In reality, the USBP doesn't stop anybody from entering the USA. Under "Catch and Release," they only delay them a day or two, at best.
Sensors, or no sensors.
"The whole thing is a shell game," said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union that represents agents. "They are trying to convince the American public that they are doing something, when they're doing very little.
"The timing is suspicious," Bonner added. "They don't want to be embarrassed by the Minutemen."
What a strange question,are you?
*snort* HAHAAAHahahaha..... BRILLIANT. Yes indeed. Let's email that bozo and ask the question .... why DOES 100 Americans set off sensors but THOUSANDS of illegals never did.....
Yours is the most noteworthy reply on the Thread.
Attorney General Gonzales?
Is he an American?
Something "drastically wrong" has already been happening...
LOL, what a joke. There's an estimated 4,000 illegals crossing the Arizona border every day. So... Agent Maheda, your "normal operations" aren't working worth a flip so please spare us the concern about your "sensors".
We all know the reason the Border Patrol doesn't like the Minutemen is because they are shining the spotlight on the total lack of border protection to the whole nation. Of course, the government doesn't provide enough resources to do the job either but that's a whole other story.
The BP Commander of the Tucson sector told us that he is against it...he named excess sensor activity as one of his major concerns last month.
This is one of the two or three major problems identified early on by the BP's Tucson Sector Commander. It's not like they didn't know it was going to happen.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.