Border chief says southeast Arizona needs permanent checkpoints (Bad RINO Kolbe Alert)

The head of the U.S. Border Patrol says his agency is hampered by its inability to put up permanent checkpoints on roads in southeastern Arizona.

David Aguilar told a Senate hearing Thursday that no similar prohibition exists in other border states, but appropriations provisions have required that all checkpoints be temporary and be moved every two weeks in Arizona.

Critics say permanent checkpoints, which force motorists to pull off roads leading away from the border for inspections, disrupt trade and traffic.

Congressman Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., is behind the provisions that prevent permanent checkpoints. He said they are ineffective because illegal immigrants can simply sneak around them.

u.s. congress people criticized the checkpoints on the 5, at san clemente, and the 15, at temecula. these are high-volume checkpoints. sometimes when the traffic backs up for miles, the bp relents and just lets the traffic thru'.

in both cases, these points make some sense. the 5 has a nuclear reactor nearby and camp pendleton. both installations inhibit illegals. when i lived in san diego county my next door neighbor was marine security; he spent his nights picking up illegals.

temecula is also mountainous and rife with rattlesnakes. rattlesnakes hunt at night. it's very steep and difficult to get around. indian reservations nearby probably are conduits for illegals.

both of these check points are a good distance from the border--70 miles.

the criticism by the u.s. congress people was, why not put more resources >closer to the border<? also, why inconvenience american citizens when >the border is not protected well<? these issues remain unanswered.

likewise, the new, post-9.11, checkpoint east of san diego in the mountains on the i-8 can easily be circumvented by those knowledgeable about the roads and terrain.

imperial county at night ... is a war zone. unbelievable.

my complaint was about the new, post 9.11, checkpoint at about mile 67 east of yuma is intimidating at night. the bp has intense lights shining into your car, dogs and armed personnel, a dune buggy at the ready near by, etc.

i did not like it when i went thru' at night. going thru' in the day is more relaxed.

the similar checkpoint east of ft. stockton in texas on the i-10 is easier going, altho' i've always gone thru' there in the day, not night.

passing thru' these check points at night is very different than in the day.

i've seen no checkpoints on the 10 in eastern az or nm.

Okay, Ken, now I understand where you're coming from.

The logic in my response mirrors what you're saying, sort of. In Cochise County, the 10 parallels the border and is about 35 miles north of it, give or take. There are three routes from the border to the 10: AZ Highways 90 and 80, and US 161.

Checkpoints on those routes are very effective. With them, you don't need to stop traffic on I-10. And vehicular traffic in this county is light enough, that when a vehicle goes off road it's as obvious as a whale in a fishpond.

What works here won't work in San Diego County, as you point out. What we are upset about is the our Rep. put language in a funding bill the hamstring the BP at work.

yeah.

there's another issue that doesn't get figured into the mix here on illegal immigration:

i was in tucson for awhile. there are a lot of alphabet soup feds living there. i met some and they told me that when they're hot on some pursuit, not infrequently they are called off.

they point to people in the management levels of our government that are bought off by the drug cartels.

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