Posted on 02/11/2002 10:30:35 AM PST by ThJ1800
LAREDO — The number of undocumented immigrants arrested along the U.S.-Mexico border plunged 45 percent in the past four months compared with the same period last year, leaving experts wondering why fewer people are trying to cross.
It could be fear of the Border Patrol's "green fist," terrorist attacks or a slumping economy. No one knows for sure.
The agency made 181,497 arrests from October through January — the fewest for a four-month period in at least 17 years, according to computerized records dating to 1985, the earliest available.
"Something is going on," said Rogelio Nuñez of Proyecto Libertad, a Harlingen-based immigrant rights group. "No doubt about it."
The drop was evident in Laredo on a nearly moonless night late last week as agents patrolled a warehouse district wedged between a residential neighborhood and the Rio Grande.
"Hopefully, we will have some traffic tonight," said patrol supervisor Steve Loring, a seven-year veteran of the agency. "I would hate to have one of those nights when we hardly catch anyone.
"Some nights we can have 10 apprehensions for the whole (eight-hour) shift and the next night 100," he said of the roughly three dozen agents on duty at the Laredo South station.
What has caused the slump is anybody's guess, but there are plenty of opinions.
"We believe there are a number of factors at play," said Nicole Chulick, a Washington-based spokeswoman for the Border Patrol.
She said the economy, new job opportunities in Mexico and increased efforts by agents over the past year contributed to the decline. Border security was tightened after the Sept. 11 attacks, which officials believe may be deterring would-be crossers.
Although the Border Patrol remains the size it was before Sept. 11 — with about 9,500 agents — its higher state of alert has been widely publicized in Latin America.
Agents no longer are performing extra security duties at the nation's airports away from the border, and only about 100 of the more than 9,000 agents on the Mexican border have been reassigned to the Canadian border, Chulick said.
Chulick wouldn't speculate on whether arrests would continue to decline from February through April, traditionally the busiest months for the Border Patrol.
Compared to the same period last year, arrests in Texas have dropped about 27 percent; in California, 48 percent; and in Arizona, 55 percent.
The Tucson Sector remains the hottest spot in the nation for catching undocumented immigrants.
Some immigrants and those who work with them said they are staying put in the United States, rather than visiting Mexico and returning, because it is getting too tough to sneak back.
"It is difficult. I don't know what to do," said one undocumented immigrant, a mother of two who cleans houses in San Antonio and has an elderly father in the hospital in Mexico City.
"It is not an easy situation. My sisters are saying I need to be with them, but the return (to San Antonio) is such trouble," she said.
Roberto Vera, a U.S. citizen who first came to San Antonio as an undocumented immigrant, said he is familiar with the dilemma.
"They are trapped here," he said of undocumented immigrants.
Near Laredo and other populated stretches of the border, agents are keeping a higher profile than ever to deter immigrants from trying to set foot on U.S. soil.
A rugged patrol vehicle parked atop a bluff overlooking the river keeps its red and blue emergency lights on constantly as if to serve notice that the U.S. government is out in force.
"We've got a good view of the river," Loring said. "And they can see us for a couple of miles."
Nuñez, of Proyecto Libertad, said he's not sure how the Border Patrol has changed its operations since Sept. 11, but added, "I'm sure people trying to get across (the border) are rethinking their strategies" as well.
Chulick said the agency is more on guard.
"Obviously, we've been at a heightened state of alert since Sept. 11 and we maintain that state of alert," she said. "There is more of a presence, more vigilance, and that word has been spread widely."
More officers are likely on the way. President Bush's 2003 budget proposes hiring 570 additional agents, with 285 destined for the Canadian border.
Fernando García, director of the Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project based in Ciudad Juárez and neighboring El Paso, said the Border Patrol isn't keeping immigrants away.
"If they are not coming, it is because of fear and the lack of jobs," Garcia said. "It is not because of anything special the Border Patrol is doing."
He believes some immigrants are being pressured by loved ones to return to Mexico to avoid terrorists, anthrax and anti-immigrant sentiment.
Vera agreed, saying families are especially worried about incidents such as the World Trade Center attacks, in which some undocumented immigrants are believed to have died anonymously. Their identities may never be determined and their families may never know what happened to them.
"It is not as much a physical fear as a moral one," Vera said. "Families in Mexico are scared something will happen. ... They are scared the war will come."
Back on the line in Laredo, it was just after midnight when agents spotted and watched a group cross the river toward the United States.
"They've just made landfall," came a voice on the radio in supervisor Loring's four-wheel-drive vehicle.
Agents spent the next hour scrambling to close in on the group and waiting for them to make their way away from the river.
The men said they were headed to Michigan, South Carolina and Dallas for jobs. They ended up at the patrol's Laredo South station — searched, questioned, their photographs and fingerprints recorded in a database to determine if they had been caught in the past or if warrants were out for their arrest.
A 38-year-old man from Guanajuato was in custody for the sixth time. Among the items in his wallet was a video rental card and a few pictures from his younger days as a member of a color guard in the Mexican military. The computer search showed he wasn't a fugitive.
In 24 hours, Laredo South agents caught 95 undocumented immigrants. They ranged in age from 7 months to 46 years. Most were men and all but one were Mexican.
"I knew we would get some action," Loring said. "It just doesn't come up to you on a silver platter."
Nuñez, who assists people in applying for permits to live and work in this country, said the number of clients standing in line at his office has not declined.
"They will always go underground to be less detected," he said of undocumented immigrants. "I think they are still out there."
Trapped? I don't know of a single person who is preventing them all from leaving.
I'm with you Mr. Nunez.
It is US law, that all males, 18 and older, either legal or Illegal, must apply for the draft (Selective Service).
So while there is not a current draft, these people are not the brightest, and will believe these rumors. Add to the fact that we heard that the rumor started in Mexico, so this is there own people telling them this.
As for drugs, the INS has the same 10% of idiots that every agency has, but those idiots are moving drugs, not illegals.
If that is the reason, then I'd suggest we draft a dozen or so and broadcast it far and wide. Talk about an exodus...
I say we find them, draft them, and send them of to do all these little peace keeping missions. After 20 years of service, they can have a green card.
You think Mexico has finally run out of citizens it wants dump on the U.S.?
>sarcasm<
How did you know he was illegal?
SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Chiapas - The U.S. Coastguard on Monday detained a boatload of 150 undocumented Ecuadorians on their way to the United States, the second since Friday, Mexican federal authorities said.
Authorities at the Puerto Madero Naval Station in southern Mexico said the migrants onboard the Popeye 1 - which was caught in the Pacific Ocean just off the southernmost state of Chiapas - were transferred to the naval base and placed under the custody of the National Migration Institute and federal police.
Eight immigrant smugglers were arrested and will face charges before a judge in San Cristobal de las Casas district court.
Last Friday, U.S. Coastguard officers stopped the Ecuadorian boat Licenciado Popeye and found 210 United States-bound migrants onboard, who were also taken to the naval base at Puerto Madero.
The detainment of the several hundred Ecuadorian citizens prompted a visit to the base by Ecuador's Consul General to Mexico, Guadalupe Moreno, to assess the migrant's condition.
Ecuador's embassy in Mexico has requested the immediate repatriation of the detainess, citing ill health and the horrible conditions in which the migrants were traveling.
The U.S. embassy in Mexico City will cover all detainment and possible deportation costs.
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