Posted on 02/21/2007 7:44:09 PM PST by Tactical
Top Homeland Security official Michael Chertoff announced in Yuma on Tuesday that increases in Border Patrol agents in the summer will halt due to progress in constructing infrastructure along the border.
Chertoff said the federal Arizona Border Control Initiative, which started in 2004 to put more boots on the ground in an attempt to curb illegal entry and immigrant deaths, won't be necessary in 2008. The Department of Homeland Security secretary made the statement during a border tour with senators and congressmen from across the country and Yuma sector Border Patrol agents.
"We will no longer need to surge in this particular sector because we will have the problem under permanent control. And that's something that's going to mean a lot to the men and women who serve out here as well as to the communities along the border who have to live with illegal migration," he said.
Chertoff said now isn't the time to declare victory, but that clear progress is being made in securing the border. He and other politicians took turns welding pieces of the wall together near San Luis, Ariz., during their tour Tuesday.
Primary and secondary walls are being built in that area, which was previously controlled only by a small barbed-wire fence and the agents on patrol, according to Yuma sector Border Patrol spokesman Chris Van Wagenen.
Van Wagenen said the new walls and presence of the National Guard through Operation Jumpstart have drastically decreased the number of illegal aliens entering the country. He said apprehensions are down 65 percent - from 500 to 600 per day to 100 per day - since Jumpstart began.
"It does my heart good to see this," Van Wagenen said of the fence.
In Mexico, the sentiment is not the same. Mexican government officials, including President Felipe Calderon and border rights groups, decried the decision by Congress to approve the building of 700 miles of fence on the southern border. While Chertoff said many remote areas will use new technology, such as sensors and unmanned aircraft, rather than physical fences, he said the changes are necessary.
Critics say that building fences forces illegal immigrants into more dangerous areas, threatening their lives. Chertoff said there would be illegal immigrants who would try to cross in the desert heat, but the U.S. had to work toward a solution to the illegal immigration issue.
Chertoff said the Bush Administration would work toward achieving comprehensive immigration reform this year to meet the labor needs for agriculture and other industries. "It's the last piece of the puzzle to solve a problem we've had for 30 years or more," he said.
However, those on the border tour didn't all agree that immigration reform should happen so soon. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said there must be operational security of the border before any reforms are considered to deal with the 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S.
"I hope we don't get anything definitive until we have more border security, so we don't encourage more people to come across the border in the interim," he said.
Many in Congress have expressed similar opinions, which has kept comprehensive reform from being passed. Nelson said he expected reform bills to be presented in March.
Yes they do, but the areas with good border fences are a godsend. That is why we are gonna build em. If DH is elected, within 6 months.
Okay, let's get busy...:)
Did you see the other article where they are wavering on building the fence, in Texas?
Yes, I saw it. Chertoff doesn't get a vote. The law was passed, the bill was signed. Bush put $$ for the first 350 miles in his new budget. That does not mean that congress won't screw with it, but as it stands, its the law.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow1L4MsmUGM
Support this man.
I'm at work; I'll look at this tonight...
He is 100% comitted to do whatever Pres. Bush wants.
Thanks for pinging L.E.!
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