EYES ON THE BORDER

Tucson Citizen ^ | Dec. 10, 2002 | Luke Turf

[new cruelty]

DOUGLAS -- While most Border Patrol agents spend their workdays under the blazing desert sun, Jeff Olsen sits in a stuffy room where the only light comes from a bank of surveillance monitors.

But like agents in the field, Olsen is doing his part to catch illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.

The U.S. Border Patrol station in Douglas has cameras mounted on towers - eyes in the sky - that scan the border constantly for illegal activity, and Olsen is one of the agents who benefits from them.

[dark_lord]

You know, they should mount web cams along the border and let unemployed people monitor them. They could have a phone number to call if they see anyone enter the field of a numbered camera. Border patrol could be dispatched, and if they catch anyone a bounty could be paid to those people who called in on a particular camera.

Web cams are cheap - even good ones that can be rotated and with telescoping lenses are pretty cheap. Give a $500 per head bounty and I bet we could have as many "eyes on the border" as we needed.

[RightWhale]

That is a darned fine idea. Combine the webcam with a chat box and you won't even need the telephone number.

[A Navy Vet]

Good idea, but webcams are relatively fragile and would have to be protected from the elements in some kind of enclosure. I believe the Barnett brothers have real-time surveillence on their ranch.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

bump

[Poohbah]

Not only that...they'd have to be guarded from vandals and the like.

[RightWhale]

webcams are relatively fragile

Closed circuit cameras are simple enough. They can take temperatures down to 40 below zero, which wouldn't be a problem in that part of the country, but are sensitive to direct sunlight and of course getting wet. Even better, they are sensitive to infrared and can be used in low light or no light if there is an infra-red light source.

[Henrietta]

From the article: "The crossers were trying to hide in the shadows. They had no idea Olsen had already spotted them and dispatched a Border Patrol truck. When fence hoppers saw the truck's flashing lights, they jump back over the fence."

Yeah, they just jump back over the fence, and wait until nobody's looking... Let's just shoot their sorry butts, and the problem will be solved. These people are invading our country, and this should be treated like the war that it is. You cross over the line, you get shot. Then it will stop being like a game to these people.

Cry "racism" if you want to; namecalling will not shut me up.

[Spiff]

Don't be fooled. They saw these walls, lights, and cameras as part of the recent Dog & Pony show for the politicians who visited. The truth is that just beyond Douglas the walls end, there are no lights on the border, and the cameras don't reach that far. Going west there's nothing but cattle fence for miles and miles until you get to Naco and then there's a bunch of lights, a wall, and more cameras, and then nothing until Nogales, then the same thing again.

All but the most stupid illegals and coyotes are crossing the vast spaces between these barriers, lights, sensors and cameras. It is these vast areas that need similar barriers, lights, cameras and sensors before our border will even begin to start being secure.

[Spiff]

Yeah, they just jump back over the fence, and wait until nobody's looking... Let's just shoot their sorry butts, and the problem will be solved. These people are invading our country, and this should be treated like the war that it is. You cross over the line, you get shot. Then it will stop being like a game to these people.

I won't ever be accused of being an "open borders" person, in fact I'm one of the most strident about border security. But, I don't think a good solution is to "shoot their sorry butts." When a mother carrying her child over the border jumps back over the fence, do you shoot her or her child first? Do we shoot the 12-year-old boys crossing too? Do we just leave their bodies there to rot after shooting them over the border?

Let's talk about sane, constructive solutions (like physical barriers, intelligence gathering, troops manning sensor and camera stations, interior enforcement, severe penalties for those who employ illegals, enhanced border patrol equipment and personnel - and leave the stupid "shoot them in the butt" crap out of here.

[Henrietta]

When a mother carrying her child over the border jumps back over the fence, do you shoot her or her child first?

Doesn't matter, just get them both.

Do we shoot the 12-year-old boys crossing too?

Yep, they're invaders, shoot them too...

Do we just leave their bodies there to rot after shooting them over the border?

Leave them to rot, as a warning.

Yes, of course my post was a bit of hyperbole, but seriously, when are we going to take seriously the fact that we are being invaded? If there are no consequences to crossing the border, then why not keep trying?

Imagine, for example, if we tolerated the same type of flouting of the law in other situations. Hey, if you do something illegal, it's okay...we'll just turn a blind eye and pretend that you didn't mug that old lady or steal from the corner store. How long do you think it would be before society turned into total chaos?

Mexicans need to respect our soverignty and our borders. If they don't, then there should be severe consequences. Putting them back over the border does not work; they just come back. Putting them in jail is not a viable solution, because it costs taxpayers money and they will get out someday.

Don't like my ideas? How about coming up with some of your own?

[wku man]

Hear, hear! I like the way you think.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[hsmomx3]

Did anyone see Jake Flake on O'Reilly lastnight? Bill asked him about the border
issue and Flake smiled throughout the entire interview. Flake's main point was that
those who are here illegally provide a phony ss# and therefore pump money into the
system as if that is a good thing. I was highly disappointed with Flake.