Border Patrol Prevented From Securing U.S. Under the current administration of President Barack Obama, national security and public safety are taking a backseat to so-called environmental preservation, a policy that led to the recent murder of an Arizona rancher. The U.S. Interior Department prohibits routine patrols and operations conducted by Border Patrol agents along the Mexican border on roads labeled “land managed.” The Mexican national entered the U.S. through the 2,300-acre San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge and subsequently escaped through it after gunning down rancher Robert Krentz a few weeks ago, according to the report. For years, Border Patrol agents have been prohibited by the U.S. Interior Department and the U.S. Forest Service from actively patrolling such areas because it threatens natural resources, according to GOP members of the Natural Resources Committee Republicans. House National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee Ranking Member Rob Bishop (R-UT) announced that Republican Committee staff have confirmed with both Border Patrol and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the criminal who killed Arizona Rancher Robert Krentz both entered and exited the U.S. through federal land on the San Bernardino Wildlife Refuge...
Justice Department Reports 60 Percent Increase in Number of Drug-Smuggling Tunnels at U.S.-Mexican Border The number of tunnels being used to smuggle illegal drugs across the Southwestern border grew by more than half from 2008 to 2009, according to a March 25 report from the National Drug Intelligence Center. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents stationed along U.S.-Mexico border discovered 26 illegal tunnels – a 60 percent increase over the 16 tunnels that authorities discovered in 2008. Most of the subterranean routes were discovered in Arizona, with 20 found in the “Tucson Sector” – a 262-mile long section of the border from the New Mexico state line to Yuma County, Ariz., the NDIC reported in its 2010 annual drug assessment...
Is Hemet the first skirmish? Our neighbors in Hemet have made the national news again following the burning of a trailer at a Police Department firing range. This comes after three attacks on the Hemet/San Jacinto Gang Task Force and the torching of city code-enforcement trucks in March, days after a threat to burn a police car. As of this writing it has not been determined if the latest incident is linked to the other four. One thing for sure, attacking cops is a trademark of Mexican gangs. Back in November, Adrian Rios, 17, was shot, allegedly by Jose Manuel Campos, 18, at Campo's home in Hemet. It is further alleged that Campos butchered Rios and burned his body in the backyard with the help of his 17-year-old sweetie. Kinda sounds Mexican gangish. If he did it, perhaps he was taking a page from the thugs operating in Mexico. Or perhaps there is a link to a Mexican gang operating here and the attacks are a warning. Remember, Campos and his girlfriend fled to Mexico whereupon Hemet police, federal marshals, a fugitive task force and Mexican federal police began hunting them down. It has been stated that they had help evading authorities. Slightly more than a month later the attacks began on the Hemet police. Coincidence or not, when you look at what's going on ---- an Arizona rancher murdered on his border property by an illegal immigrant, a Texas sheriff urging citizens to arm themselves in preparation for war, and reports that the drug cartels are using vehicles disguised as Border Patrol cars ---- it is clear the war is here...
Gunmen abduct 6 from Mexican hotels near Texas More than 20 gunmen burst into a Holiday Inn and another hotel in the northern city of Monterrey on Wednesday and abducted at least six people, a prosecutor said. Nuevo León state Attorney General Alejandro Garza y Garza said that 20 to 30 gunmen abducted four guests and a receptionist from the Holiday Inn, then went to the nearby Hotel Mision, where they abducted a receptionist, he said. Local media reported that the gunmen hijacked several trucks and used them to block streets near the hotels during the raid...
Senators call for scrapping 'virtual fence' Two senators said Tuesday it's time to consider ending a contract for a "virtual fence" along the U.S.-Mexico border, contending it doesn't stop illegal immigration. Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., even suggested an old-fashioned, real fence may work better than the electronic one designed by Boeing Co. "We're counting on you to give us a direct assessment and take action to either terminate the contract or take from it what may work," Lieberman told Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin. Lieberman, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said at a hearing on border security: "The best answer to this continuing crisis and continued flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S. is to go back to the old-style fences, double- and triple-tiered, and layered." The virtual fence is a network of cameras, ground sensors and radars designed to let a small number of dispatchers watch the border on a computer monitor, zoom in with cameras to see people crossing, and decide whether to send Border Patrol agents to the scene...
Virtual Fence Integration 'a Complete Failure,' Bersin Says During a Senate hearing on border security Tuesday, the new commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) declared that the goal of constructing a fully integrated virtual fence as originally envisioned by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is not possible at present. CBP chief Alan Bersin told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that building the complete system for the Secure Border Initiative-Network (SBInet), as originally envisioned, was not possible in the near future. "What has not worked is the total integration of technology from each of the areas along the border into an overall system that would permit a central monitoring and control--that technology integration at the very broadest level has been the complete failure the committee described," Bersin stated. However, in its first 23-mile block along the Arizona border with Mexico, SBInet has provided some capabilities that fulfill the goal of using a combination of video and radar to detect incursions into the United States from Mexico, Bersin added. As such, an option being considered by the Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in her review of the system is to use pieces of the system but not in the fully integrated fashion originally imagined...
Public invited to testify at border violence hearing State lawmakers are inviting area residents to attend and testify at a special hearing in McAllen to address recent drug violence south of the border. The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, April 29th at the McAllen Convention Center. Texas State Rep. Veronica Gonzales (D-McAllen) told Action 4 News that local, state and federal law enforcement officials are expected to testify. But Gonzales said the public is welcome to come listen and add their own testimony. Drug cartel violence has left dozens dead on the Mexican side of the border since February. Mexican authorities blame a bitter fight between former allies the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas. Gonzales is chair of the House Border & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, which is co-sponsoring the hearing. She said the violence in Mexico is making daily headlines and Texas state lawmakers will meet again in January 2011 but want to gather information to address the issue appropriately...
Ariz. Sens. McCain, Kyl call for Guard on border After the shooting death of a rancher, Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain once again called Monday for National Guard troops to be deployed along Arizona's border with Mexico. The request for 3,000 troops was part of a 10-point plan that also includes hiring 3,000 more Customs and Border Protection agents for Arizona, building new fences along the border and increasing aerial surveillance. The Arizona senators, both Republicans, said in a conference call with reporters that they would introduce federal legislation to implement their plan. Gov. Jan Brewer requested a year ago that President Barack Obama deploy National Guard troops along the border. The senators supported her request at the time, but the Obama administration has not acted. The latest proposal followed the death last month of rancher Rob Krentz on his land north of Douglas. Authorities believe he was fatally shot by an illegal immigrant possibly connected to a drug smuggling cartel. "While we have the nation's attention, it's important that we strike now and we get these suggestions implemented now, because I really feel the window of opportunity will close very quickly," said Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever, whose office is investigating the killing...
Border panel: Money now Members of the Congressional Border Caucus are asking the Appropriations Committee for more than $500 million in federal money to combat narcotics and organized crime along the U.S.-Mexico border. The members sent a letter to U.S House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Friday in which they requested that the Appropriations Committee include the funding as it drafts the fiscal year 2010 emergency supplemental spending measure. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, a Border Caucus member and contributor to the letter, said he is optimistic that the Border Caucus will get the funding it has requested from the Appropriations Committee and actually has "two shots" at the money...
Is the current budget being spent in a way that provides for the most effective and efficient border security program? Are existing personnel appropriately deployed and given the equipment they need to carry out their mission? Have current impediments to effective enforcement, such as land-use designations, been addressed and resolved?
Forget it. These political "leaders" are running for cover. Throw money at it and hope it sticks until November.
Notice this is an "emergency" appropriation. That means they don't have to take the money away from some existing program. Just pile it on an already huge deficit.
Is this a serious look at addressing our border security problems? Certainly not. These "leaders" view it as just another opportunity to bring federal $$ to their district.
This tactic has politically worked in the past. We'll find out in less than 7 months if it continues to work.
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