Posted on 04/23/2003 1:50:05 PM PDT by 11th_VA
Before long, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) may be patrolling the US borders to protect against intruders of any type.
‘I am extremely supportive of the idea,’ said Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), a member of the newly created Homeland Security Committee and chairman of a subcommittee that will have a major say in what kinds of equipment will be pressed into service.
Shadegg said two recent visits to the Mexican border underscored for him that ‘we don't have anything approaching control of that border.’ Support for putting electronic eyes in the sky is building in Congress, he said.
Senator John Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Armed Service Committee, wrote to President Bush recently saying the case for non-military use of UAVs is ‘compelling’.
Currently the Mexican border is sporadically patrolled by fixed-wing aircraft and Black Hawk helicopters, which Shadegg said pose disadvantages of costly operation, limited range and relatively short periods for staying aloft.
‘High tech, including drones, is precisely where we should be going,’ Shadegg said.
As chairman of the emergency preparedness and response subcommittee, ‘I want to put all my energy into looking at high-tech ways to stop incidents from occurring, or detect them the instant they occur,’ such as in cases of sabotage of water supplies or unleashing of chemical agents, he said.
After testing drones in south Texas during the late 1990s, Border Patrol officials decided against using them. But Asa Hutchinson, the nation's top border security official in Homeland Security, told Congress last month, ‘I think that we have to revisit some of this technology since September 11th and see if it has greater application.’
You're going to see more personnel, but also . . . more high-technology equipment down on the border,’ Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), said at a news conference this month.
‘You may see unmanned drones.’
Shadegg wouldn't predict how soon UAV patrols could be launched but said, ‘If we can build enough support for them, I think they could be up pretty quick.’
(Source: The Arizona Republic)
They come here, get a job, and send money home. Fox, his friends, his family, and his party members all get a ccut of that money, now estimated at between 8-10 billion US dollars a year, not including the drug money. We must do something about the six million illegal alien criminals amomgst us. Their cost to our society is extraordinary, far, far greater than the estimates of the democrats who buy thier votes at election time.
Translation: The Mexican government believes it is not appropriate for the US to prevent Mexico from shipping their poor into our country, making them OUR problem instead of their's.
Why can no one bring themselves to say the obvious. How politically incorrect can this logical statement be.
"We want to stop illegal entry into the United States."
For a short time.
Here's the rub. It will not take long for people to realize that while we have the capability to indentify illegal entry we have neither the will nor the manpower to stop it.
"Who cares if they're watching us since they won't stop us" will be the mantra within 6 months.
Surveillance won't stop it. The revolving door of deportation won't stop it. We can't afford to incarcerate the offenders. Our society won't tolerate death as a meaningful deterent.
Short of death, denial of the public infrastructure and constitutional rights to both the illegal entrant AND their immediate progeny is the only vehicle that will stem the flow.
Revisiting California's Proposition 187 and a reexamination of the 14th Amendment are long overdue.
Basic suggested concepts include, but are not limited to -
The security of the U.S. border should be accomplished with a combination of Border Patrol, selected regular Military, National Guard & Reserve and a little innovation.
The Border Patrol should apprehend, process and repatriate illegal aliens in accordance with their mission.
The National Guard & Reserves assume those logistic and maintenance functions (transportation – truck and bus driving, vehicle maintenance, communications and administrative tasks, house keeping tasks, etc.) to free up Border Patrol personnel to concentrate on their basic mission.
The regular military provides high tech reconnaissance, surveillance & scouting with manned aircraft and UAVs, monitoring of remote areas, air-lift, and selected units to secure remote areas of the border. The border mission will provide an excellent training opportunity. Most importantly, the border mission is a national security mission.
Some more innovative concepts include -1. Ultra-light aircraft. Ultra-light aircraft would be appropriate for daytime missions. Ultra-lights are inexpensive (cost less than current Border Patrol SUVs), low maintenance, require only limited training (do not require an FAA pilots license), and fly low & slow allowing for excellent tracking of illegal activity. They can be either single or double occupant and would allow for a dedicated pilot and tracker. They are available for purchase in Arizona.2. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). UAVs that are in the current inventory provide the nighttime continuation of the daytime mission, yet with advanced high-tech all-weather and limited visibility sensors to acquire and track infiltrating illegal movement.Both ultra-lights and UAVs can complement each other with reverse cycle maintenance: Ultra-light maintenance at night and UAV maintenance during the day. All UAVs would be stationed and operate from Ft. Huachuca. Ultra-lights would be ground transported to the area of use. State of the art light-weight high-tech communications and position locating systems can be easily installed in proposed ultra-light.
3. Native American Border Patrol Augmentation. A dedicated Native American Border Patrol augmentation would be an excellent way of capitalizing the unique and honored traditional skills of our Native American citizens. Their time honored skills at tracking and outdoor skills can be tapped to the nation’s advantage. They should be employed as trackers working in conjunction with US military, Border Patrol, ultra-lights and UAVs. A military occupation specialty (MOS) type training program could provide structure to the concept. Entrusting them with our national borders would be a compliment to their heritage along the line of the “Code Talkers” of WW II. A name for consideration would be “Border Stalkers”. It might be that this new opportunity would provide a needed and well-deserved niche for the Native American community beyond what is currently available. Currently such a concept is in place with the “Shadow Wolves” of the U.S. Customs Service on the Tohono O'Odham Reservation in southern Arizona.
The Shadow Wolves unit is composed solely of Native Americans of Blackfoot, Cheyenne and Pima tribes who are known for their uncanny ability to track aliens and the drugs they may carry.
You forgot the most obvious. All these companies that work the illegals are giving big time donations to politicians - both sides - I think a little heavier on the Republican side. I got that from our President's attitude from day one and his relationship with El Presidente Fox. Money talks.
If you owned a big chicken processing company and you had to pay mininum wage or better, workman's comp, match SS, provide healthcare, etc. - then they realized they could get workers for less wages, no strings, no responsibilities if they are hurt - no nothing. The taxpayers would provide all the responsibility and upkeep of them - now how much would you donate (in every way possible) to politicians to make sure that situation stayed in place? If you are the politicians getting all this money - and there are ways around campaign finance- would you risk loosing that money and having to depend on $25 donations to finance your campaigns and keep you in office?
We have to realize there are many reasons they come here - there is only one they stay - our government is unwilling to enforce the laws we already have on the books.
Another military officer, General Franks said something the other day to the effect that any nation who wants to control its borders can. Hint hint... even the military is trying to wake up our government now to the dangers of open borders. Somebody needs to.
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