| SUBSCRIBE | | Why we charge |
|
|
|
Front Page
news state
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Illegal Immigrant Arrests Down in Arizona
By Arthur H. Rotstein
Associated Press
TUCSON, Ariz. — Border Patrol arrests of illegal immigrants fell 16 percent during the first 11 months of the fiscal year in the Tucson sector, the busiest corridor along the Mexican border.
The drop continues a trend from last year — and may reflect the state of economic conditions in both the United States and Mexico as much as it does enhanced enforcement efforts, a spokesman says.
Through the end of August, agents in the 260-mile sector arrested just under 300,000 illegal immigrants. That's 16 percent fewer than the nearly 359,000 caught during the first 11 months of fiscal 2007.
Meanwhile, apprehensions plummeted more than 78 percent in the Yuma sector during the same period — from 37,108 to 7,966. And that comes after arrests in the 125-mile Yuma sector plunged almost 68 percent in fiscal 2007 from the preceding 12-month period.
Though fiscal 2008 ended Tuesday, Customs and Border Protection officials said figures for all 12 months of fiscal 2008 are unlikely to be released before mid-month.
Rob Daniels, a Tucson sector spokesman, and Yuma sector spokesman Ben Vik, attributed the dips to several reasons.
"There are a number of different elements for any change, including of course our right mix of manpower, technology and infrastructure," Daniels said.
National Guardsmen supplemented the Border Patrol until July. The now-completed two-year mission deployed as many as 6,000 guardsmen along the entire southwestern border as the Border Patrol launched a hiring program to double the number of its agents.
The Guard's presence in a variety of roles allowed the Border Patrol "to be more of a deterrent," Daniels said. "The intent was to prevent the crossings, to prevent the deaths from occurring."
The number of illegal immigrants who died in Tucson sector deserts also dropped by 20 percent, from 193 to 154, in the first 11 months of fiscal 2008.
Added Border Patrol agents, fencing and other infrastructure like powerful lighting, observation towers and improved roads all have helped reduce apprehensions by making it tougher to cross into Arizona, Daniels said.
But he added, "Obviously, the economy in both the United States and Mexico is always a factor."
With the economic downturn, fewer jobs have been available for illegal immigrants, particularly in fields such as construction, he said.
And employer sanctions enacted by the Arizona Legislature have dissuaded hiring of illegal immigrants, Daniels said.
"It's removing the draw, the attraction, and then our enhanced enforcement operations have tried to ... break the smuggling cycle," he said.
Those include such programs in Tucson as Operation Arizona Denial, in which 70 persons arrested daily in designated high-trafficking areas are prosecuted in federal court and given jail time or formally deported.
Vik similarly pointed to increased tactical infrastructure, prosecution through Yuma's Operation Streamline of anyone crossing through the sector illegally and increased agents resulting from the Border Patrol's hiring surge. Vik said he couldn't speculate on what impact the economy's downturn has had.
In a recent interview, Tucson Sector Chief Robert Gilbert said several programs through which prosecuted or other apprehended illegal immigrants are returned to Mexico are designed to sever their reconnecting with the smugglers who have brought them across the border previously.
One buses prosecuted immigrants to border crossing points far from Arizona; another returns 266 people a day by plane to Mexico City.
The patrol can't track how many people successfully enter the country, Gilbert said, but it does its best to monitor entries, "and what we're seeing is a larger decrease in entries, as best we track it, than we are a decrease in apprehensions, showing a higher level of effectiveness."
Copyright ©2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Albuquerque Journal Subscriber Services
Submit a news tip | Place a classified ad | Advertise Online at ABQjournal | Advertise in Albuquerque Journal print products | Subscribe to newspaper
Save & Share
Tag this Page
| 
...go to bookmarks
E-mail Story
Print Friendly
