Border Patrol credits Guard with drop in apprehensions

ARNEWS ^ | Sgt. Jim Greenhill

[SandRat]

NOGALES, Ariz. (Army News Service, July 31, 2006) – The number of illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico into the U.S. Border Patrol’s busy Tucson, Ariz., sector have dropped from about 600 a day in March to 200 this month, according to Border Patrol officials.

Although apprehension rates typically vary with the season, Border Patrol officials attribute the latest drop to the arrival of National Guard troops for Operation Jump Start, the initiative President George W. Bush announced in mid-May to help the Border Patrol secure the U.S. border with Mexico.

“We’ve seen dramatic decreases in the number of entries and apprehensions,” said John Fitzpatrick, patrol agent in charge of the Nogales Station. “They’ve basically come in and shut down those areas where they’ve been deployed overnight.”

The Tucson Sector patrols more than 280 miles of border, 32 miles of it within the Nogales Station’s territory. The border terrain is as difficult for the agents who police it as it is for the human smugglers and drug traffickers who try to negotiate it for profit.

“If we can put enough pressure on the border so that it’s not feasible and not economically viable for these smugglers to continue to smuggle people across, that allows us to then focus on everything else that’s going on,” Fitzpatrick said.

Nogales is one of the nation’s peak places for human crossings. About 800 pounds of marijuana are seized there each day. And some 450,000 people were apprehended in the sector last year, including 30,000 criminal aliens, some of them rapists and murderers.

Fitzpatrick credited National Guard Soldiers with helping the patrol make a significant drug bust during the second week of July. Guard members are also building a road that will improve agents’ access to the border.

“They’re putting up hundreds of feet a day and covering areas that we’ve never really been able to address with infrastructure,” he said. “And it’s happening at a rapid rate, so there’s significant and immediate impacts.”

Guard members also are relieving agents who could not perform their law enforcement duties because they had to carry out other tasks.

“We had agents in here who were answering phones, working in dispatch, working as administrators, working as mechanics,” said Jose Maheda, a field operations supervisor.

The Guard’s arrival is an important contribution to improving border security, said Fitzpatrick.

“I’m not sure that people in the interior of the United States necessarily see and understand the magnitude of the problem that we have, and the threat that we face along our border and the potential vulnerabilities that we may have.”

Guard members have upbeat attitudes about the mission.

“It’s great that we’re supporting the Border Patrol, that we’re serving our country this way,” said Staff Sgt. Desi Hermosillo.

Capt. Jeremy Cook also understands the importance of the Guard’s mission. When he’s not commanding Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry, 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, he’s a senior Border Patrol agent at the Nogales Station.

“It’s alleviated a lot of pressure on us,” said Cook. “It’s helpful, very helpful.”

Up to 6,000 troops participating in Operation Jump Start are expected to be on duty along the 1,300-mile border from Texas to California by Aug. 1. The $770-million operation in support of Customs and Border Protection could continue for up to two years.

[SandRat]

click image to enlarge

(2,115 x 1,500 pixels - 902 KB)

by Sgt. Jim Greenhill

July 31, 2006

An Arizona National Guard Soldier stands watch on a ridge above Nogales, Ariz., at the U.S. border with Mexico in mid-July. Only those Guard troops whose mission may expose them to danger are armed for purposes for self-defense. The Citizen-Soldier is a member of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry, 29th Brigade Combat Team.

 

Images on the Army Web site are cleared for release and are considered in the public domain. Request credit be given as "Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army" and credit to individual photographer whenever possible.

click image to enlarge

(2,256 x 1,500 pixels - 1,398 KB)

by Sgt. Jim Greenhill

July 31, 2006

Arizona Army National Guard Soldiers stand watch on the U.S. border with Mexico at Nogales, Ariz. The Citizen-Soldiers are members of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team participating in Operation Jump Start, the National Guard's assistance to the U.S. Border Patrol. National Guard troops who carry weapons are armed for self-defense purposes only.

 

Images on the Army Web site are cleared for release and are considered in the public domain. Request credit be given as "Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army" and credit to individual photographer whenever possible.

[SandRat]

For what it's worth......

[Shermy]

Border guarding works without "comprehensive" reforms like amnesty and new worker problems? We don't have to import more poverty?

Shocking.

/sarc

[Marine Inspector]

All the guard did was shift the entry points. NM apps have jumped.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Correct.