Border Patrol plans 20 emergency beacons south of Tucson to save border-crossers

Arizona Daily Star ^ | 27 May 2003 | Ignacio Ibarra

[JackelopeBreeder]

[Short-lived link; full story tomorrow.]

The Border Patrol plans to install 20 emergency beacon towers in the desert south and southwest of Tucson in a bid to save lives of illegal border-crossers and even drug-traffickers who find themselves in distress.

The beacons — all located about 15 to 30 miles north of the border — will stretch from the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in western Pima County to the area north of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge south of Tucson.

The rescue beacons are similar to six other beacons installed south of Yuma in the Border Patrol's Yuma Sector more than a year ago, said Border Patrol spokesman Roy Villareal, in Washington, D.C., who heads the agency's National Border Safety Initiative.

Those beacons have been credited with the rescue of 26 people in four separate incidents, including the rescue of three U.S. citizens, students working on a class project, who were stranded when their vehicle broke down.

Villareal said the 30-foot tall towers, mounted on a concrete base with a 3-foot-square footprint, could be deployed very quickly once the assessment is completed, and could be in place in time for the hottest part of summer, he said.

Read more about this story in Wednesday's Arizona Daily Star.

[Political Junkie Too]

Could it be the spill-over from paraquat?

-PJ

[liberalnot]

i went through the temecula check point today. the traffic was so heavy, it's an 8-lane freeway, with the 4 north bound lanes full, that the border patrol pulled back and opened it up.

i'm fed up with the temecula and san onofre check points. they do next to nothing. and they're just public advertisements for the feds--"hey, we're here doing something!"

they ought to take these employees and put them on the border and leave law-abiding americans alone.

[Tancredo Fan]

We can't afford to put enough border patrol on the border or in the interior to stop the invasion and remove the squatters, but we can afford to set up welcome stations for the arriving hordes.

Say, didn't Clinton leave office recently? Why is this crap still going on? I think there's a bug in the ointment here.....

[c-b 1]

Your tax dollars at work.

[SAMWolf]

This Government has gone insane, it's main job is to protect our borders and it doesn't even pretend to make an attempt to do that, meanwhile the strippus of more and more of our rights and our money.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

As long as when they're done saving their lives, they ship them back home where they belong. It's more than what Mexico would do for its own people.

[liberalnot]

i was listening to the john and ken show on kfi while driving home this afternoon.

john had rep. tancredo on who spoke to the issue of the garbage that immigrants dump, as mentioned on fr before. he said that he found an irs application for earned income credit in the trash. apparently the applicant had made some money in the u.s. but had been given several thousands of dollars of eic.

interesting was john's question, why do other elected representatives not care about immigration?

tancredo replied that some of them do mention it privately to him but that they're afraid to go against the democrats or the white house on immigration.

john commented that it's strange how we got to the point where our own elected officials are afraid to deal with illegal immigration.

[JackelopeBreeder]

Our checkpoints dealt with a much smaller population, 120,000 in the entire county. The longest wait I ever experienced was about two minutes.

They were very effective as there are only five roads out of here -- and we are roughly the same size as Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Before the checkpoints closed, the illegals faced about a 50 mile hike on foot before they were safe to catch a ride.

[liberalnot]

several days ago i posted an article that stated the american population would possibly reach 500,000,000. this would be partly due to illegal immigration and to our native birthrate, which demographers say has mysteriously increased.

the key point, relative to this thread is--apparently the u.s. government has NO intention of stopping illegal immigration. or, the population would not be ballooning up to 500 million.

[FITZ]

These beacons will not only save lives, but may well channel illegals into the hands of Border Patrol agents.

That's the way I see it. To me it's could be a good plan --- there is compassion in it ---but whether thristy illegals head toward the beacons or drug-smuggling or nonthirsty illegals head away from them, there'd be a possibility of catching them either way.

[DoughtyOne]

I can't believe our blessed government hasn't hired taxis to bring illegals across the border with minimal stress. Bend over folks, it's party time at your expense.

[janetgreen]

drug-traffickers who find themselves in distress

Am I cold hearted or something? I don't give a damn about distressed drug trafficers. I hope they bake in the desert and provide a meal for the creatures there.

[liberalnot]

the socialists have always used america's humane values against america.

the soviets did it. the chicoms did it. the cubans do it.

and american university "intellectuals" do it.

i believe it was one of hillary's mentor's principles--saul alinsky's "rules for radicals".

[JackelopeBreeder]

True, but we're talking about 20 towers in an area that stretches about 160 miles. That's still something like 3,000+ square miles for people to come to grief.

Most people see Arizona from I-10, I-8, or I-40 and think it looks totally desolate. That's the Garden of Eden compared to the area where these towers are being placed.

[FITZ]

Still ---no one will object to 30 foot towers placed 80 miles apart if they're to save lives ---but what would stop them from also attaching cameras and infrared cameras and other detection devices which could also be used to save lives and find people who need a ride back to Mexico.

[Tancredo Fan]

I've been back in the former homeland in Calif. for a couple of weeks and heard Tancredo on KFI this afternoon too.

He's 100% correct. Neither one of these mainstream parties are ever going to deal with the most important issue facing America today... they are both eager to sell the country down the Rio Grande for a few pesos and a few illegal votes.It's utterly pathetic. Reminds me of Washoe County's old Mustang Ranch. Same concept, but one must consider the the fact that the Mustang Ranch no longer exists. Hmmmm.....

[timestax]

And they will give each of them a handful of free lottery tickets, and scratch off tickets, and two glazed KRISPYKreme doughnuts and a big ole mug of STARBUCKS house blend coffee!! Oh and a big ole bag of CarlsJr. burgers!!

[dagnabbit]

Bump.

Tancredo for President.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

CRIMINAL INVADERS
round em up
move em out
raw hide
Go into mexico and take back all things
stolen in 1938.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

along the w-h-o-l-e arizona border? then, something's really wrong with the border patrol.

The politics on the State level have been infested by pro-Aztlan people. The Feds are being duped by PC/multicultural claptrap. They have truly destroyed the West. It's coming to a city near you....stand up and shout at the first invasion or you'll be sorry.