Free Republic

PALOMINAS — A Sierra Vista teen is the face of a new law that will help ease the scare of helping others. Jennifer Fonseca’s journey began in 2015 while hiking at Ramsey Canyon with two family members. During the trek, they encountered an injured person who was not breathing. Each person in Fonseca’s group performed CPR on the individual until first responders — including the Palominas Fire District — arrived. Unfortunately though, the injured hiker succumbed to his injuries. “For a 16-year-old, that is a lot to take in,” Fonseca, 18, said. “We tried to help him, regardless of how...

PALOMINAS — U.S. Rep. Raul M. Grijalva toured the ongoing border fence construction project at the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area on Monday to raise awareness for his proposed Borderlands Conservation and Security Act. Grijalva, representing Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, and fellow Democrat Gabrielle Giffords of the 8th District are the only two of Arizona’s eight U.S. representatives whose districts abut the U.S.-Mexico border. Giffords’ district includes all of Cochise County. Grijalva observed portions of the border fence and listened to concerns voiced by host Bill Odle, a nearby landowner who is opposed to the construction because it will...

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps is getting ready to build another security fence. The high-security fence will be constructed 20 miles east of Palominas. Richard Hodges is looking forward to seeing the fence constructed on his property. "It is not uncommon to run upon 20 or 30 people," Hodges said. Hodges has seen his share of illegal crossers. He's lived on his Cochise County ranch his entire life. He says many of the illegal immigrants fall prey to robbers, once they get close to the Arizona-Mexico border. "You see signs of violence up here. You see where scuffs have been...

PALOMINAS — Another group has formed out of frustration regarding U.S. immigration policy, and the Palominas Trading Post on Highway 92 provided the arena for its political venting Saturday. The new group, S.O.S. Borders, is described as a more moderate organization by co-director Kimberly Fletcher. It has a philosophy based on common-sense need for border security, she said. Fletcher’s group organized the rally at which leaders and participants in many already well-known organizations such as the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, American Border Patrol, the new-but-growing Mothers Against Illegal Aliens organization, Eagle Forum and Desert Visions spoke. The rally was called...

SIERRA VISTA — The “S.O.S. Borders” organization expects more than 100 people at its rally at the Palominas Trading Post today The rally is scheduled to go from 9 a.m. to noon. At noon, demonstrators will form a human fence, intending to send a message to the U.S. Congress about the need for proper border security. “We want Congress to understand that we want border security and enforcement of our laws, first and foremost. The purpose of this rally is strictly to focus on border security,” S.O.S. Borders Co-executive Director Kimberly Fletcher said during a phone interview Friday as she...

PALOMINAS — Unimpressed by President George W. Bush’s pledge to send 6,000 National Guard troops to the border and a Senate bill that would construct 370 miles of new border fencing, the Minuteman Project began building its own barrier Saturday at a local ranch. By early afternoon, volunteers had planted posts and strung five tiers of barbed wire along an approximately 750-foot-long stretch of Jack and John Ladd’s property in Palominas. It was the first step in an ongoing project the civilian border watch group hopes will eventually be taken over by the federal government. Minuteman Project founder Chris Simcox...

PALOMINAS - Future U.S. Border Patrol agents may have been among 14 Explorer Post 869 Scouts who graduated Wednesday night from a three-month training program sponsored by the Border Patrol's Naco Station. At least that's the thinking of some of the young men and women who turned out for the graduation ceremony at Valley View Elementary School. "I have an uncle with the Border Patrol. I think it's a good program," 16-year-old Corey Roddey of the Three Canyons area told a Herald/Review reporter before the ceremony. "I learned a lot." Asked what the most useful lesson was, Roddey said, "As...

HEREFORD - Stu Dutcher lives five miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. A field used by illegal immigrants trekking north is near his rural home between Hereford and Palominas. The retired U.S. Border Patrol agent knows when illegal immigrants pass through the field. The area's "fleabag sensors," including his, sound an alarm. "Dogs have different barks when its about humans, another bark when it's animals and a third bark they make just to bark," he said. In some ways, dogs are more reliable than high-tech equipment because they help track the direction illegal border crossers go, he said. "The only...

Video from KVOA Tucson. Puts some pictures to the BP story.

PALOMINAS - More than $1 million worth of marijuana was seized Wednesday by agents from the U.S. Border Patrol's Naco Station after a vehicle pursuit. At approximately 9:45 p.m., agents observed a pickup truck illegally enter the United States about eight miles west of the Naco Port of Entry, according to a press release from the agency's Tucson Sector. The truck's driver was unaware he had been spotted and drove slowly along local ranch roads until the truck reached Highway 92. When an agent attempted to stop the vehicle on the highway near Miller Canyon Road, the driver performed an...