Posted on 04/30/2005 2:46:13 PM PDT by axes_of_weezles
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.
But Aguilar said they have proven effective in other states.
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.
An Open Borders RINO Republican.
Are you folks who defend open borders going to defend this "Republican" because he is a "Republican" and defend his and Bush's border policies or are you ever going to come to your senses before it's the downfall of the country and conservatism?
Does being open borders make him a RINO or part of the Republican mainstream? (not saying it should be)
Let's see.
Kolbe is an open homosexual.
He does not support conservative causes; has broken promises to his conservative constituents.
He is an advocate of forcing the DoD to take open homosexuals.
How he gets away with micromanaging the BP is beyond credibility; but he probably inserted language as amendments in funding bills.
Checkpoints might not be an efficient use of manpower. The crossings in San Diego Sector were much reduced when they shifted personnel from "defense in depth" (i.e. checkpoints and interior enforcement) to putting agents directly on the border. Not to say that once you've gotten the crossings under control that you can't add manpower back to interior enforcement. But if your resources are limited, it seems to be more effective to concentrate them right at the point of crossing. The agents hate it because it's boring - they mostly sit in their cars and stare South for the entire shift. It's much more fun to be out chasing people. I spoke to some guys from one of the BP groups that gets to do the sign cutting and pursuit stuff. Due to some administrative thing, they had to go back "on the line" for a couple of weeks, and they could hardly stand it.
Who are these people who want the borders open at places other than the official border crossings, where stuff can be checked out?
The view that we build these huge fancy border crossing complexes, but let people walk around them is the most ridiculous political view I've ever heard.
He personally is the reason there are Minutemen. His constituents are Pima and Cochise Counties.
The BP had checkpoints consistently manned up to about 7 or 8 years ago. Kolbe attatched amendments to funding bills to prevent the Border Patrol from operating checkpoints on a regular basis.
The roads in southern AZ are chokepoints and it was sensible of the BP to operate the checkpoints where they did.
They caught too many illegals.
having driven thru' socal, az, nm, and tx for years, day and night, my impression of these border check points is that they are more for the impression, inconvenience, and sometimes intimidation of u.s. citizens.
even u.s. congress people have criticized these check points.
point taken
It makes life difficult for illegals as well as inconveniencing citizens.
Kinda like travelling on an airline post 9/11.
I presume you are fully supportive of all DHS actions including proctological exams at airports?
after 9.11 how can you not be supportive of security at the borders?
but the question is, are these measures working?
obviously, not.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=benson+az&spn=1.839844,3.842340&hl=en
There are only about 4 or 5 roads that need to be checked in Southern Arizona.
Exactly. What else did you expect from a Republican. We need a new Hadrians Wall...
Kolbe is again going to face a conservative Republican challenger in the primary election. Randy Graf announced his candidacy on Thursday and is committed to bringing border security back to Cochise County and the rest of the border.
The Border Patrol is complaining they cant man the checkpoints because Kolbe attatched language to their funding preventing them from using them.
They were effective prior to NAFTA and his amendments.
Of course they don't work now. The BP cannot run permanent checkpoints or temporary ones in certain chokepoints because of the language Kolbe put in their Operations funding.
Does Randy have a website up yet?
"Exactly. What else did you expect from a Republican. We need a new Hadrians Wall..."
Since this is text, I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not.
Support Randy Graf in '06 bump!
If you live in or have friends in the Tucson area, it's time to get spun up on Randy's candidacy. He's not a one-issue conservative, but this is one of his main issues.
That's hardly a sterling commendation.
There isn't enough traffic through any of the three checkpoints (three 2- or 4-lane State Highways) we're talking about for them to be a hindrance. I don't mind driving through them.
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