Posted on 04/29/2003 12:39:15 PM PDT by madfly
COMING TO AMERICA
Eye in the sky targets illegals
Civilian border group tests high-tech remote surveillance vehicle
A civilian border-patrol group has enhanced its surveillance capabilities by employing a high-tech, remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, to assist in spotting illegal aliens attempting to sneak into the U.S.
Glenn Spencer, head of American Border Patrol, says his organization has successfully field-tested "Border Hawk," a UAV the group hopes to employ as a surveillance tool.
WND profiled the potential utility of UAVs in patrolling border areas last month.
The purpose of Saturday's test, which took place over a section of the San Pedro River near the U.S./Mexico border, was not to spot border-jumpers but to "test the ability of the system to operate remotely," ABP said.
ABP's members use video and satellite uplink equipment to post real-time images of their surveillance activities on the Internet. The Border Hawk also has the capability to broadcast real-time video images, which ABP then will feature on its website.
"There is no doubt that the Border Hawk can do the job," Spencer said, "but it is part of an overall system concept that we are pursuing." He said the UAV won't become fully operational until sometime next month.
UAVs are increasingly becoming more popular as surveillance tools for the U.S. military and for law-enforcement agencies. Also, the idea of employing UAVs to help the U.S. Border Patrol and other immigration agencies police the border has been suggested – an idea catching on with some lawmakers.
"I am extremely supportive of the idea," says Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., a member of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. Two recent border visits demonstrated "we don't have anything approaching control of that border," he said.
And Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, recently told President Bush in a letter that non-military uses for UAVs were "compelling."
The U.S.-Mexico border currently is patrolled by air only sporadically. Helicopters and some fixed-wing aircraft are occasionally used.
"High tech, including drones, is precisely where we should be going," Shadegg said, according to the Arizona Republic.
Border Patrol officials tested drones along the border in Texas in the latter 1990s, but decided against using them. However, Asa Hutchison, the top border-security official in the Department of Homeland Security, said in testimony to Congress in March, "I think that we have to revisit some of this technology since Sept. 11 and see if it has greater application."
"You're going to see more personnel, but also ... more high-technology equipment down on the border," added Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "You may see unmanned drones."
Arizona is one of the hardest hit areas for illegal immigration, and the Sierra Vista, Ariz.-based Spencer is well aware of that. He says Border Hawk and similar UAVs will "pave the way to the development of a comprehensive, low-cost system of detection and surveillance along America's borders."
Related stories:
Expert: Crack down on illegals inside U.S.
Dual citizenship for Mexicans?
Document fraud imperils homeland
Illegal alien works at White House
Mexicans to collect Social Security?
INS hasn't closed terrorist loopholes
Related column:
Maybe we can find more about this letter to Bush. Is Warner on a Homeland Security Committee?
I served my country for almost 3 decades as a soldier and officer in the U.S. Army. A significant portion of my career was spent planning for defense of and defending other nation’s borders. We did quite well. We won the cold war and we are the only standing superpower. We are the world’s experts at border security. (Col. Ben Anderson). . . I shall not waste the committee’s time discussing whether or not we should protect or defend our sovereign borders or whether illegal aliens have any standing or justification for invading our sovereign nation. I shall not waste my time debating the parsing of their illegal status.
. . . It is not money that is needed to fight this synergistic and symbiotic business of crime and corruption; it is the military. Only the military can close the border to the illegal entry of those who would do our nation and its economy harm. Trying to buy off the problem with other taxpayer’s money is rather insulting to all of us who live in Cochise County. We don’t want other taxpayer’s money - we want the problem stopped. We want the military.
. . . Just what does Congress think is going on here on the border? And what does it take to make an impact? This is admittedly the seventh field hearing held by the Subcommittee along the nation’s borders to address the situation. How many more will it take?
. . . There have already been six of these hearings, yet no progress in the eyes the American citizens who live along the border in Cochise County. In fact, matters worsen daily. Since the last such session that I am aware of back on February 22, 2002 in Sierra Vista, not only has there been absolutely no progress, but now various citizen groups have formed to take the matter into their own hands to defend the border and deter the invasion of illegal aliens, drug traffickers and potential terrorists.
. . . Our military has decades of experience in border security missions - from 1945 till the collapse of the Soviet Union in Europe, from the end of open hostilities in Korea and continuing in to this day, and Bosnia and Kosovo, etc. In fact, the American military is the world's expert at protecting other nation's borders. It is time that unique experience is used at home where it is sorely needed. There is no need for large military units, or heavy equipment or tracked vehicles such as tanks, artillery or armored personnel carriers; or heavy weapons or any equipment that might be ecologically destructive. Light forces with rapid airmobile (helicopter) mobility can cover large remote border areas with minimal assets while freeing up limited Border Patrol assets to concentrate on congested urban areas or where their particular expertise is needed.
Ft. Huachuca provides a perfect location for border operations of any needed military units.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/862300/posts
The Cochise County View of the Border (excerpt)Testimony of Ben L. Anderson Jr., Col US Army Retired,
submitted to U.S. Subcommittee on Criminal Justice,
Drug Policy and Human Resources,
Representative Mark Souder, Chairman.In light of the current and programmed INS/Border Patrol structure’s inability to contain the illegal alien invasion from Mexico - I urge strong consideration of a military option in southeastern Arizona, if not across the entirety of the US/Mexico international border. Any attempts to deny protection of the United States sovereign borders on the basis of any Posse Comitatus nonsense is trumped by Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution. – “The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion;….”. Again, it must be stressed that the mission is one of national security and not law enforcement. I also stress that the solution is not more taxpayer funding, but rather military presence.
Military on the border:The solution is doable –
1. Put the military on the border to release the INS and Border Patrol to go apprehend the illegal aliens current running amok in the United States and return them to their countries of origin.
2. The fix of the INS and Border Patrol will be a major undertaking that will take many years - at least a decade. A review of U.S. Military structure, career patterns, schooling and training is highly recommended.
3. Back off the military from the border when the INS and Border Patrol have grown into their jobs. This will take several years.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.
See: http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/2001-09-27/feat.html and http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,70147,00.html
Col. Ben Anderson (bio)
Among the retired Infantry Colonel’s military decorations are 2 Silver Stars, 2 Purple Hearts, 2 Legions of Merit, The Defense Superior Service Medal and 3 Meritorious Service Medals. He also wears the Combat Infantry Badge, Aviator Wings, Ranger Tab, Pathfinder Designation, Senior Paratrooper Wings, Scuba Badge and both German and Paraguayan Paratrooper Wings.
Anderson graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1966 (BS, Engineering). He holds three masters degrees: (German Linguistics), Georgetown University, Wash. D.C.; MA (International Relations), Salve Regina College, Newport, RI; and MA (National Security & Strategic Studies), Naval War College.
He also taught on the faculty at the United States Military Academy, West Point (1974-76).
To receive his email newsletter, contact him at .
Anderson definitely knows what he's talking about but I'm not sure who's listening.
They better do something and soon though, with the Republicans in charge of all three branches of government we may never get this chance again.
They know of the seriousness of the border situation, but no one wants to stake their political career on making the decision. There are a lot of hispanics here who vote. Who is going to authorize the use of military force to keep out the rest of Julio & Juanita Fuentes's family(Counsil members for the Mexican American foundation), who will authorize the use of deadly force to keep the border clear?
Big decision for today's politico...
Only if the GOP assumes that all hispanics want unlimited immigration and their wages kept down. They seem to forget how Silvestre Reyes became popular enough in his district to be elected to Congress and is now the head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (and working to defeat the Estrada nomination). Reyes would never have been elected to anything except his "Operation Blockade" and "Operation Hold-the-Line" when he was head of Border Patrol made him extremely popular on this side of the border ----popular among Hispanics.
Yup, it is very late in the game. One of the reasons for that is the abuse of the 14th Amendment and automatic citizenship for any baby born to an illegal who can crawl across the border.
Many law experts believe it can be fixed with simple legislation, not a constitutional amendment, but cowardly politicians won't even try. When those babies grow up, they'll be in charge of large chunks of our political institutions, courtesy of Mexico.
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