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The border and the bored, Watching for illegal migrants in New Mexico, NJ Guardsmen see little
Star Ledger ^ | 08.08.06 | WAYNE WOOLLEY

Posted on 09/05/2006 10:40:50 AM PDT by Coleus

New Jersey National Guard Spc. Luis Ataca had a bird's-eye view of America's latest war on illegal im migration. It didn't look quite like he expected. For the better part of the past two weeks, the 28-year-old Rahway man stood in a portable tower for hours at a time, staring through a pair of binoculars powerful enough to make out a rabbit running through the open desert 2 miles away.

From his post on a rocky outcropping, the soldier who spent 2004 patrolling Baghdad had an unobstructed view of the Mexican village of Palomas and a decrepit cattle fence that serves as the only barrier to entry into the United States. Ataca, who works as a manager for a shipping company in New Jersey, watched everyday life play out in Palomas, children walking to school, farmers taking produce to market, and even suspected drug traffickers and human smugglers standing on rooftops and staring at him through their own binoculars.

The one thing Ataca didn't see -- the one thing he expected to see -- was illegal immigrants trying to make their way into America. "It's been pretty slow," Ataca said one day last week. "Not much going on." Ataca is part of Operation Jumpstart, a Bush administration initiative to put 6,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen on America's border with Mexico for the next two years to augment the U.S. Border Patrol.

Contrary to most people's perception, the troops aren't there to round up illegal border crossers and drug traffickers. That job is reserved for Border Patrol agents. Instead, most of the troops are posted in lookout positions designated by the Border Patrol. They are supposed to act as the eyes and ears of a law enforcement agency that does not have enough manpower to sit and watch the border.

(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; US: New Jersey; US: New Mexico
KEYWORDS: aliens; immigrantlist; nationalguard; operationjumpstart
The border and the bored, Watching for illegal migrants in New Mexico, N.J. Guardsmen see little action >>>

Could it be that the word is out and the migrants go somewhere else to come illegally into the USA?

1 posted on 09/05/2006 10:40:52 AM PDT by Coleus
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To: Coleus

When they know where you are watching they go somewhere else.


2 posted on 09/05/2006 10:45:00 AM PDT by boomop1 (there you go again)
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To: Coleus
The way it's set up, putting the National Guard on the border is little moire than an expensive PR stunt. In fact, they have had to take Border Patrol agents off their normal jobs to "guard the Guard."
3 posted on 09/05/2006 10:47:48 AM PDT by BW2221
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To: Coleus
Lemme guess where they'r going with this.

1)... Bush exaggerated the threat, just to antagonize the peaceful Mexicans.
2)... Bush exaggerated the threat, just to build up the federal gubmint.
3)... The Mexicans really don't want to come here, because of our restrictive clean-air laws.

What else?

4 posted on 09/05/2006 10:50:32 AM PDT by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: Coleus

More illegals fly across the border than ever crossed the border on foot. Spend a day or two at the airports, if one would like to know how the illegals are getting into the country.


5 posted on 09/05/2006 10:54:37 AM PDT by From One - Many (Trust the Old Media At Your Own Risk)
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Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

To: 1_Inch_Group; 2sheep; 2Trievers; 3AngelaD; 3pools; 3rdcanyon; 4Freedom; 4ourprogeny; 7.62 x 51mm; ..

ping


7 posted on 09/05/2006 11:07:05 AM PDT by gubamyster
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To: Coleus
Look for tunnels.
8 posted on 09/05/2006 11:20:19 AM PDT by WorkerbeeCitizen (Religion of peace my arss - We need a maintenance Crusade)
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To: Izzy Dunne

"3)... The Mexicans really don't want to come here, because of our restrictive clean-air laws."

The REAL reason they don't want to come here is our general lawlessness and lack of morals and ethics.


9 posted on 09/05/2006 11:25:35 AM PDT by dljordan
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To: Coleus

They're behind you!


10 posted on 09/05/2006 1:17:01 PM PDT by wolfcreek (You can spit in our tacos and you can rape our dogs but, you can't take away our freedom!)
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