Guard's hands-off approach tightens border security

The Arizona (Red) Star ^ | 21 Oct 2006 | Brady McCombs

[axes_of_weezles]

National Guard keeps eyes on border

Guard's hands-off approach tightens border security

By Brady McCombs

Arizona Daily Star

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.21.2006

Senior Airman Jeremiah Steele stands guard east of Nogales. Apprehensions and deaths in the Tucson Sector have dropped since the National Guard arrived.

Perched on a hilltop near the border in the rolling hills east of Nogales, National Guard Tech. Sgt. Nick Livingston and his crew scan the horizon from east to west looking for illegal border crossers.

With rifles at their sides, binoculars around their necks and bulletproof vests underneath their camouflage fatigues, Livingston, 33, of Cincinnati, and three other Guardsmen form one of the entrance identification teams that stand post next to army-green tents along the Mexican border.

They aren't allowed to apprehend illegal entrants or leave their post. Their mission is to be extra eyes and ears for the Border Patrol. They did that well, said Border Patrol officials who credit the Guard with playing an integral role in slowing illegal entrant traffic across the Arizona border this summer.

"As soon as they got here, we noticed a big drop in apprehensions and entries," said Gustavo Soto, Border Patrol spokesman.

Yet, experts say the National Guard has a minuscule impact on illegal immigration that has deep roots in Mexico and the United States. Local immigrant advocates worry about the increased militarization of the border.

"I don't believe the presence of the National Guard will have any long-term, lasting impact on the inflow of illegal workers," said Daniel Griswold, director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based libertarian public-policy research foundation. "This is more symbolism than solution."

Border Patrol officials point to decreases in apprehensions, which they use to gauge illegal-entrant traffic, and border deaths as evidence of the Guard's impact. A heavy monsoon and increases in agents and fencing also played a part in the decreases, said agency officials and experts.

In the Tucson Sector, from July 1 through Sept. 21, border deaths dropped 46 percent and apprehensions dropped 27 percent from the same time the year before, Soto said. In the Yuma Sector, deaths dropped 29 percent and apprehensions 66 percent, said Lloyd Easterling, a Border Patrol spokesman.

The 1,950 National Guard troops in Arizona have also built four miles of fencing and 15 miles of vehicle barriers and regraded at least 150 miles of access roads. They have assisted with vehicle and helicopter maintenance and in camera control rooms.

Earlier this summer at Smuggler's Gulch east of Nogales, Guard engineers cut through the canyon walls and used the dirt to build a 25-foot land bridge for a gravel access road that allows Border Patrol agents to speed back and forth in pursuit of illegal entrants.

"Basically what used to be a goat trail is now like an interstate for the Border Patrol," said National Guard Sgt. Edward Balaban.

But just as they've done for decades, smugglers have likely already reacted to the latest move by the U.S. government and found new routes around the identification teams and new fences and vehicle barriers, Griswold said.

Even if that's the case, it doesn't mean the National Guard's work is in vain, said National Guard Chief Master Sgt. Terry Libbert

"We're making them work a lot harder," he said. "They're having to go into areas that are a lot further out."

The Guard's presence has been useful to the Border Patrol in its quest to secure the border, but that's only one part of a multipronged approach needed to create tangible change, said Steven Camarota, director of research at the D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies, which supports tighter immigration controls.

"Securing the border is only one piece in a much larger puzzle," he said. "It's a small, pretty modest part of a much larger set of things that we would have to do, and we're not doing them."

Guard members who come from around the country and don't understand the bicultural, binational norms of border cities such as Nogales and Douglas have made residents feel as though they live in occupied territories, said Kat Rodriguez, coordinator for Derechos Humanos, an immigrant-rights organization in Tucson.

"You add actually armed troops, and absolutely it's become militarization to an even more intense degree," she said.

Three Nogales residents who live in a neighborhood in the hills east of the city said they've haven't been bothered by the Guard. They offered different opinions about whether they've helped slowed illegal crossings.

Maria de la Luz Luevano, 59, said illegal entrants continue crossing near her house as always. But neighbors Juan Silva and Sofia Castro Dessavre say they've seen a significant decrease and even though neither ever had problems with illegal entrants, they feel an added sense of security, they said.

"I don't know where they are crossing, but it's not here," said Silva, 67, who has lived at his house that sits about a half mile from the border east of Nogales 25 years. "We sleep better."

Four-man crews rotate shifts at the tent camps every 24 hours. The men and women come from 24 states and territories with a wide range of civilian backgrounds. Their time on the border ranges from two weeks to one year. They all volunteered for the mission.

Senior Airman Joseph Littlejohn, 24, works in construction in Oklahoma City and has Guard training in computer maintenance. He arrived on Aug. 1 and will be here until April. Senior Airman Jeremiah Steele, 19, worked at a Wal-Mart in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., before he arrived three months ago. The flight crew maintenance specialist has signed up to stay until December.

Senior Airman Ethan Harvey, 22, is full-time military in Niagara Falls, N.Y., where he works as an aircraft electrician. He arrived on July 25 and will be here until December.

They suffered along with Livingston in the heat of July and August, got drenched in the summer's monsoons and have been struggling to keep warm in the cold nights of October. But through it all, the four said they've learned a lot and enjoyed their time in Arizona.

"This is probably the most important mission our military is on right now because it's our country," said Livingston, who arrived on Oct. 1 and plans to head home to his wife and three children at the end of the month.

They also have gained a new appreciation for the Border Patrol. From their hilltop, they can see the rugged terrain illegal entrants can utilize to their advantage.

Yet, even with the new road through Smuggler's Gulch below and the newly erected railroad-tie vehicle barriers that stretch into the distance toward the Huachuca Mountains, "the Border Patrol pretty much has an impossible job down here," Livingston said. "They definitely need more people."

If things continue to go well, the Guard could be on the border for many years, predicts National Guard Lt. Col. Kathleen Hancox. If President Bush signs into the law the bill for 700 miles of fencing, she's confident the Guard could help build it.

"I know from my unit, they are gnashing at the bit to come out here and do something like that," said Hancox, who works out of St. Louis.

● Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarnet.com

[axes_of_weezles]

Operation Jump Start. 600 Million. Is it worth it?

[Sparticus]

Pleased to see that soldier has a magazine inserted into his rifle. At least the PC monster isn't in complete control of the situation. I remember reports of guardsmen stationed at airports following 9/11 without being issued ammunition for their weapons.

Hopefully this is just the beginning of a trend, not a temporary public relations move.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Is it worth it?

Yes. Lives are being saved, and smugglers repelled.

[axes_of_weezles]

What's wierder is he's Air Force.

Cannot really tell from the picture, but it looks like a dust cap on the muzzle.

More than likely the magazine is empty for dust protection.

[axes_of_weezles]

I seem to recall you are against private citizens from the same area doing the same thing on their own time and dollar.

Remember the Minutemen?

It's costing the government/DoD 118k a year per person to have someone doing what these NG folks are doing. Majority of the cost in travel/hotels.

[c-b 1]

It had to hurt the folks at the "Red Star," to publish this article. As always, they tried to ofset the positive with the leftist whining of Kat Rodriguez.

[Kimberly GG]

The sovereignty and security of our country, the safety of every single American citizen, SHOULD have been worth the cost of militarizing the entire border, on 9/12.

What's the cost to-date of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the War in Afghanistan?

[axes_of_weezles]

My point is there are locals who would do it, and are doing it for less cost to the taxpayer.

It they issue me an M-16 and rounds and a radio, I would do it on weekends for free.

What they need is to support something like a Border Patrol Auxilliary, or Sherriff's posse. There are plenty of retirees and volunteers from Arizona who would be willing to help, without costing uncle sam $118K/year each.

It's more cost effective to put up a decent fence than to have individuals posted every half mile for a few thousand miles.

Are there no fences between North and South Korea?

You are correct they should have been doing it since 9/12/01.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

The reason for my "discouragement" of the MM project was that it subjected participants to unreasonable liability and risk. This work being performed by the NG is much more than observation and calling the BP on a cellphone. The smugglers and coyotes are very organized, structured, and backed by the Mexican government, police, and military. While I support the premise of the MM project, and laud the resulting NG deployment; the grief and risk to participants and their families is staggering. The retaliatory actions against those fine citizens and their families are not published in the MSM. The National Guard deployments are the correct approach. Even if it is costing $118k per man per year. Consider it training funds well spent. Inside the USA.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

The sovereignty and security of our country, the safety of every single American citizen, SHOULD have been worth the cost of militarizing the entire border, on 9/12.

Exactly. Funny how the gubmint has spent over $300 billion in the WOT but can't scrounge up $2 billion for a fence.

And yes, the southern border should be militarized, with the Mexican drug gangs and coyotes who are out-manning and out-gunning the Border Patrol.

[axes_of_weezles]

"They aren't allowed to apprehend illegal entrants or leave their post. Their mission is to be extra eyes and ears for the Border Patrol."

While there are some Civil Engineers and admin clerks; the troopers are just standing watch on the border with guns and radios.

What retaliatory actions are you speaking of? The NG? They NG get to hang on the border instead of going to CENTCOM's AOR and stay at decent hotels.

Anyone with vision and a voice could do what the guys listed in the article are doing, and it could be contracted out locally for less than $118k per person per year. The NG Airmen are aircraft mechanics. They were given a choice of rotating to Iraq or Afghanistan or some other non-booze drinking country or coming to Arizona for 6 months. Which choice would you make?

Philisophically the Border Patrol and DHS should be funding and operating these operations, and not taken out of the hide of DoD. At a certain point there is no " training" advantage to being border observers for aircraft maintainers.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Anyone with vision and a voice could do what the guys listed in the article are doing, and it could be contracted out locally for less than $118k per person per year.

The DoD has logistic expertise and force protection capabilities that simply do not exist within the MM organization. Civilian contracts to perform federal projects take precious time and cost money on top of the actual labor and materials. An Engineering Change Order for the size of the aggregate crushed rock on a road surface 1 and 1/2 miles long can cost over $300k. Ask how I know this.

The retaliation that I am speaking of is happening to landowners that invited the MM, and MM participants and their families. Their legal costs are staggering. It is much harder for the smugglers and coyotes to litigate against the NG. Not impossible, but very difficult.

[Kimberly GG]

All I keep thinking is that if 9/11 didn't cause them to immediately secure the border, illegal immigration won't either, and I'm not fooled by their show & tell antics to secure it, when I know damn well doing so is not part of their game plan.

If I were near the border, I'd be hanging with the Minutemen. Defeating the OBL, has become just as important to me now as was doing everything in my power to defeat JFKerry.

I'm in Ohio, but illegals are spread out across the country and interior enforcement is needed. I was glad to find out there are groups organizing in non-border states too.

[EnochPowellWasRight]

"Their legal costs are staggering. It is much harder for the smugglers and coyotes to litigate against the NG. Not impossible, but very difficult."

The smugglers and coyotes should have no standing in our courts to sue the owner of a property they invade.

Of course, that would be assuming that our court system actually worked for us, the people who pay for it.

[CountryBumpkin]

An irony is that $2 billion for a fence is peanuts compared to $1 billion per day in Iraq.

[SwinneySwitch]

Texas bump.