Tom Tancredo
American Statesman
ARIZONA Loves You!
Posted on 02/26/2003 7:56:52 AM PST by madfly
Tancredo doesn't see Jericho in desert wall
NACO, Ariz. - At last, U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo has found a wall separating the United States from Mexico. It's about 12 feet high and is made of weather-beaten, corrugated metal that resembles the sides of a boxcar. It runs for about two miles through the small town of Naco and out into the desert. The Army Corps of Engineers built the wall in 1993 to block Mexican criminals from making high-speed drug runs through the town's quiet streets. "This wall has been a godsend," said rancher Charlie Miller, whose property runs along it. "We love it. If we could just extend it." Friday was Tancredo's fourth day inspecting the border at Arizona, which has become one of the busiest places for illegal crossings during the past five years. The Littleton Republican, assisted by ranchers, locals and a retired Border Patrol agent, came to gather more evidence to advance his congressional agenda to militarize the border if necessary to make it secure. "If I were able to," Tancredo said looking at the wall, "this is what you'd see along the entire border. This is what makes good neighbors." A Border Patrol agent explains that he and his colleagues would prefer a lower fence to a solid barrier, so they could see threats coming. Along the wall's joints are hundreds of square gaps. Someone could jam a shotgun through one of them, wait for a patrol vehicle to come alongside and blast away, said the agent, who declined to give his name. Tancredo hears the agent out, but waves him off, convinced of the wall's superiority. "You start with a wall, and then you place some personnel on it," Tancredo says, thinking out loud. "Honest to God, as low-tech as this is, it works." But the wall doesn't appear to be impregnable. The drug runners have used blowtorches to cut pass-throughs for their drug packages. Some have made doors with hinges. Others have cut down entire sections of the wall. And the piles of water bottles, dirty clothes and discarded personal effects found in "lay-up" sites miles from here testify that this wall doesn't stop the flow of illegal immigration north. More than 300,000 Border Patrol arrests were made along the 261-mile Arizona border in the federal fiscal year ended Sept. 30. The day was full of indirect observations of what goes on in "the sieve," the two or three miles inside the U.S. border where drug cartels drop shipments and illegal aliens crouch in the brush, waiting for their car ride north. Miller told Tancredo he'd seen men in camouflage gear, carrying automatic rifles, drop backpacks on his land. He believes they are Mexican soldiers under the command of corrupt officers assisting in the drug smuggling. Tancredo is extremely interested in the Mexican military's alleged incursions into the United States, saying they underscore his point about the vulnerability of the border. Rancher George Morin, 53, a lifelong Arizonan, explained the puzzling array of debris left in the washes and ravines. There are hundreds of empty water bottles. The toothbrushes and deodorant were to mask the aroma of hiking several miles through the desert that can give away an illegal. Dirty clothes are chucked for the same reason. Backpacks and anything that makes it look like someone is on a long walk is discarded. Tancredo's entourage also found employment documents on ranchland beside Arizona Highway 80. A person named Matilde Delgado, who had worked in Washington state, received a $3,785 tax refund in 1998. Tancredo found her 12-year Social Security history. "The American public needs to know what's going on down here," said Larry Vance, a 40-year resident of the area. "The federal government allows the Mexican government to completely ignore our border and run millions of their citizens and other nationalities into our country." Nobody was spotted crossing the border illegally during the day Friday, although there was a brief bit of excitement in the late morning. The Tancredo motorcade stopped on a highway leading out of Sierra Vista, Ariz. A trail network leading through the brush from Mexico was apparent from the roadside. Tancredo took the field glasses to inspect it, and called out that he'd spotted three would-be crossers near the border. "But they're walking south," he said. Someone suggested that they had been alerted to the Border Patrol and were turning back. But no agents were nearby. A golden retriever was with the three figures, who walked along casually until they reached a white house. Two went inside. The third waved. No one said that maybe these people lived here.
Lawmaker trumpets benefit of crumbling barrier on border
I was with the reporter and photographer who wrote this story. I was present when all discussions took place. The report is slanted and inaccurate.The Reporter was a wimp. His photographer was a very large, overbearing and arrogant Hispanic girl who voiced her own agenda of open borders. She actually dominated him and greatly influenced the story. It actually reads like she dictated it to him. Additionally, they both left early without participating in the more extensive parts of the trip.This is not a news story, but really an editorial disguised as reporting.Per border patrol agent statements there has never, repeat, never been any occasion when the holes in the steel matting have every been used as firing ports.Bottom Line - the wall works just fine and should be extended.As for the last line in the article. People DO NOT live there. The location is a staging location for illegal entry and is often manned by the Mexican Military who assist the illegals and drug traffickers. The reporters were told that and disregarded the facts in favor of a smart ass remark.Ben Anderson The Anderson Report -- www.azanderson.org
Good point! Obviously, if no wall was present, a magical forcefield that prevents shotgun attacks would come into being, thwarting the gun-toting evildoers.
An article from the El Paso Times on this, was posted here yesterday:
Magazine highlights Mexican militarization of border - El Paso Times, Monday archives
Not a bad idea. Also, prisoners who work receive a small compensation. They could house them in a moveable "tent city". Heck, Sheriff Arpaio houses thousands of inmates in "tent cities" year round in Phoenix where temperatures are the same as at the border. If any publicity would come from it, I wouldn't be surprised if Sheriff Joe would be willing to bus his inmates down there to help!
What's it costing them to build it and would it be cost effective to use along our borders?
Ed.
This seems to be a new low even for the Rocky.
TANCREDO DOESN'T SEE JERICHO IN DESERT WALL
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_1762973,00.html
Are you folks now part of the DNC??
Chuck
Denver Colorado
ARIZONA Loves You!
"You start with a wall, and then you put some personnel on it," Tancredo says, thinking out loud. "Honest to God, as low-tech as this is, it works."
But, but, what about congressman Sylvestri Reyes's daughter's $200 million dollar, no-bid contract for a surveillance camera system that doesn't work? What'll happen to that?
>sarcasm<
MM
The good thing here, is that every so often, you can put in a box car or container, with high tech equipment to house the border patrol agents. Think of it as a bunker.
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