Should Civilians PatrolThe Borders?

[USMCRET6391]

MISGUIDED "MINUTEMEN"

2,200 federal agents are assigned to keep watch over the 260-mile stretch of border known as the "Tucson Sector," which covers pretty much the entire state, except for Yuma. And those agents do a pretty bang-up job, nabbing about a half-million aliens every year. (Compare that to a big city cop, many of whom only make an arrest every few weeks.)

But there's only so much those 2,200 can do. Hundreds of thousands -- if not millions -- of people illegally enter the country through the Tucson Sector every year.

So a team of geniuses calling themselves the Minuteman Project have decided that they are going to start policing the border on their own. Starting on April Fool's Day, the Project will disperse an estimated 1,000 volunteers to a slice of the border near Tombstone.

Now, the Minutemen says they'll only be "observing" and "reporting" the movements of illegals. This is "not a call to arms," the group swears. But if you think, in that part of the world, that any organization calling itself a "grassroots effort to bring Americans to the defense of their homeland" is going to be gunless, you need to get off of the peyote. Of course the Minutemen are going to be packing heat.

And so will the smugglers. Since October, 180 Border Patrol agents have been assaulted by the "coyotes" who haul people north. That includes 14 shootings and 20 attempts to run agents over.

Remember, those are attempts on federal agents' lives. Do you think the coyotes will have even the slightest of doubts about pulling the trigger on some self-proclaimed defender of liberty? We all know the answer: hell, no.

But the Minutemen are going to be doing more than just endangering themselves. They're going to be reducing the effectiveness of the Tucson Sector agents, too. Those agents are trained to stop any unknown vehicles sitting on the border line -- which, for the month of April, is going to include a whole bunch of Minutemen. So that will mean less time actually going after illegals. The agents are also trackers, used to picking up fresh tire treads and footprints -- and follow them to coyote-led groups. That's going to be a whole lot harder, with so many Minutemen messing up the trails.

Clearly, these agents, they need help. They're absolutely overwhelmed by the tide of immigrants pouring into this country. Maybe this little bit of political theater will shame DC into hiring a whole lot more agents, and significantly upping the amount spent on border security. If that's the case, then the Minutemen have done something right. But in the meantime, a whole of people are going to get hurt in the process.

THERE'S MORE: "The Homeland Security Department will assign more than 500 additional patrol agents to the porous Arizona border," the AP is reporting. "About 155 agents will be immediately sent to Arizona... More than 370 additional agents -- all new trainees -- will be permanently assigned to the Arizona border throughout the year." Good stuff.

[AmericanGirl]

While I appreciate that they want to "do something" I'm not so sure its a good idea. Besides making the agents jobs more difficult, I can see it getting awfully bloody in a big hurry.

[Brad]

I think unless the govt's going to get serious about doing its job, somebody is going to have to do something. And I'm pretty sick of the "let the professionals do it" condescension. Letting the professionals handle it has let things get out of control.

“This country has lost control of its borders. And no country can sustain that kind of position.”
- Ronald Reagan

[Batgirl]

I can understand why this initiative has come about if the government is failing to stop these illegals from crossing into the country. If anything, at least this group has managed to spotlight the issue and secure more agents for that specific border area.

[Ram0528]

only if they receive some training & work in cooperation w/ the agents

[Brad]

We've discussed this before, but these guys are not the vigilante's they're being made out to be. I'll look up the thread later and post it.

[jamesar1]

They will only get in the way, and what happens when one of them shoots the wrong person, who will the cry to. They will be only a danger to themselfs and to every one that is in the border area, legal and illlegal alike.

[Brad]

http://www.goinfantry.com/forum/show...ghlight=border

[Batgirl]

^ I thought I had commented somewhere before on this topic!

[Brad]

An article on the effort to finish the border fence in California - note the Mexicans peeking over the wall on the border. A picture's worth a thousand words...

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005...2905204306.txt

It's environmental concerns that are keeping this from happening. It's stupid stuff like this that fuels things like the Minuteman Project.

[USMCRET6391]

This is an interesting aside dont you think?

Patrol seeking help from public


By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. -- The U.S. Border Patrol has begun a new community-based program called "Operation Be Alert," involving a series of highway billboards calling on citizens to report alien and drug smugglers.
Border Patrol spokesman Rob Daniels said the operation began last week with the placement of five informational billboards along major highways here, aimed at providing what he called "another line of communication between the citizens of Arizona and the Border Patrol."
The billboards direct citizens to contact Border Patrol field offices about suspicious activity using the toll-free telephone number, 1-877/USBP HELP (872-7435), which also will be placed on all Border Patrol vehicles.
"We are looking forward to hearing from the public," said Michael C. Nicely, chief of the agency's Tucson sector, which includes 260 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. "The information we receive will assist us with the identification and dismantling of smuggling organizations operating in the southern Arizona region."
Border Patrol officials said they did time the project to coincide with this weekend's "Minuteman Project," when more than 1,000 volunteers will begin patrolling the border and notifying federal agents of illegal border crossers. The group is holding a monthlong vigil to protest the failure of Congress and the Bush administration to adequately enforce immigration laws.
More than 1.15 million illegal aliens were apprehended last year by the Border Patrol while attempting to enter the United States. Nearly 40 percent of them were detained by agents in the Tucson sector, which has become the nation's most commonly used alien- and drug-smuggling corridor.
The Tucson sector has been the site of a rash of assaults involving agents, with more than 100 recorded since Oct. 1, including nine shootings. The sector includes the border stations at the Arizona cities of Douglas, Naco and Nogales, where agents are being assaulted at a rate of two every three days -- more than doubling last year's total.
Snipers working as "lookouts" for drug traffickers and illegal-alien smugglers also have targeted the agents from vantage points across the U.S.-Mexico border. Agents assigned to the Douglas station in Arizona's southeastern corner, one of the nation's busiest illegal-entry points, have been fired at on at least six occasions, and while none of the officers was injured, several reported near-misses. Agency officials think the assaults are directly tied to alien and drug smugglers.
The rise in assaults comes as the Bush administration has decided not to hire the 2,000 new Border Patrol agents authorized for each of the next five years in the intelligence-overhaul bill President Bush signed into law in December. Most of those agents would have been assigned to the Tucson sector.
Instead, Mr. Bush sought to fund an increase of only 210 agents for the new fiscal year, although the Senate has since voted for funding to hire more than 2,000 new agents -- although budget discussions are continuing.