AZMEX UPDATE 9 MAR 2016
Note: videos at links.
Posted: Mar 08, 2016 6:30 PM MST
Updated: Mar 08, 2016 6:32 PM MST
BP Union leaders, Pinal Co. Sheriff takes a stance on illegal border crossing
Written By Lauren Reimer
http://www.kvoa.com/story/31420591/bp-union-leaders-pinal-co-sheriff-takes-a-stance-on-illegal-border-crossing
Also:
http://www.cbs5az.com/clip/12271233/local-federal-law-enforcement-agencies-blast-obama-administration
PINAL COUNTY -
An Arizona sheriff and a few leaders from the Border Patrol Union held a news conference Tuesday, saying border security is worse than you think. They say agents are not being assigned to high-traffic areas in a calculated effort to mislead you.
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office says drug and human smuggling routes reach far into Arizona. They say it is not just at the border, but as far north as Casa Grande and beyond. The department says those known paths could be better staffed.
A Casa Grande mobile home was once a stopping point for a major human and drug smuggling operation. It was shut down by law enforcement in 2011.
Neighbor Andrew Poor watched it happen. "They brought a lot of people out of that house," said Poor
Neighbors were unaware of the problem before law enforcement came to break it up.
"There was a lot of cops and a lot of noise over there," Poor said.
Often a politically charged topic, PCSO offered its take on illegal border crossing Tuesday morning. It says its encounters with smugglers have gone up in the last few weeks.
"Every time you have a pursuit on one of the county roads, the whole public is put at risk," said PCSO Chief Deputy Steve Henry. "More often than not, they crash and then we're left to pick up the pieces."
Anyone caught is turned over to border patrol.
There, National Border Patrol Labor Council President Brandon Judd says the practice of so-called 'catch and release' of detainees is alive and well.
"It's to manipulates numbers. It's to show that if we don't have many arrests, there aren't many people crossing," said Judd.
The Department of Homeland Security said last month, it prioritizes people who are detained because of financial constraints. Those who have no prior criminal record and are families traveling with children are not high on the list for removal.
This is sparking a nerve with the Sheriff Paul Babeu.
"Consequences Enforcing the law. That's what it's going to take," said Babeu.
Heh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security, was at Capitol Hill on Tuesday. He talked about developing better ways to measure border security and asked for 1.6 percent pay raises for DHS employees.
end
Local sheriffs and National Border Patrol Council say government is misleading Americans
Keaton Thomas
6:33 PM, Mar 8, 2016
6:35 PM, Mar 8, 2016
Autoplay:X
310 Pounds Of Marijuana Seized In Traffic Stop
http://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/local-sheriffs-and-national-border-patrol-council-say-government-is-misleading-americans?autoplay=true
FLORENCE, Ariz. (KGUN9-TV) - No new agents, agents not assigned to high-trafficked areas, and misleading numbers are all concerns for Sheriff Paul Babeu and Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, from 2000 to 2015 the number of apprehensions of illegal immigrants on the southern border went down from 1.6 million to about 330,000. Judd says the administration claims if that low numbers mean a safer border, but agents say otherwise.
"The administration and [Gil Kerlikowske, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection] have engaged in a campaign to mislead the American people to believe our border is secure. He has manipulated the data, had agents assigned to low-trafficked areas, and attempted to quiet dissent by calling those who question his approach as misinformed without offering any evidence to support his allegations," said Judd.
Chris Cabrera is an agent in the Rio Grande Valley and says he and fellow agents are kept in lower-trafficked areas of the border.
"Our agents are not assigned to some of those [high-traffic] areas, and they are told to stay in the areas they are assigned," said Cabrera.
He added that if they were to patrol a different area, it would go against orders. Cabrera says he had a former boss who told him "if nobody is there to see them, did they really cross?"
Agents say apprehensions would increase if they patrolled high-traffic areas.
Babeu and Judd also raised concerned over consequences for illegal immigrants when they are arrested. Babeu says, if a Pinal County deputy arrests an illegal immigrant, the county will prosecute for state crimes and then pass them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Federally, each time an illegal immigrant is arrested a border patrol agent is supposed to give them a Notice to Appear (NTA). A large portion of those individuals are released and never show up before a judge for the deportation hearing. Now agents release the person without an NTA unless the individual has a previous criminal record according to Judd. Border Patrol will not have a record of the arrest if an NTA is not handed out, Judd says.
"Under the current administration the mission of the border patrol has been altered to meet the amnesty and open border policy being pushed," he said.
Agents say Kerlikowske told them if they did not agree with it's current policy then they could quit. Judd says some agents have already done so, meanwhile they struggle to hire new ones.
"We have agents leaving every day, we can't hire fast enough to handle the attrition," he said.
Nine On Your Side reached out to Customs and Border Protection for comment but they have not yet responded.
Sheriff Babeu is sending a formal letter to the legislature to investigate.
end
Posted: Mar 09, 2016 3:17 PM MST
Updated: Mar 09, 2016 3:17 PM MST
Ex-Mexican mayor sentenced in Arizona drug trafficking case
Written By Associated Press
http://www.kvoa.com/story/31429582/ex-mexican-mayor-sentenced-in-arizona-drug-trafficking-case
PHOENIX (AP) - The former mayor of a small Mexican town has been sentenced to more than 21 years in prison for operating an Arizona-based drug trafficking organization.
Federal prosecutors say 43-year-old Arturo Reyes Trujillo received a 262-month prison term in U.S. District Court in Phoenix.
Trujillo was the incoming mayor of Fronteras in the Mexican state of Sonora and scheduled to take office in September 2012 when he was arrested.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Prosecutors say Trujillo was involved in sending about 1,000 kilograms of cocaine throughout the U.S. and laundered some $20 million.
They say Trujillo was living in Tucson when he was the head of the drug trafficking organization from January 2003 to July 2007.
end
Cruzan más mujeres ilegales por esta frontera
Detalles Publicado el Martes 08 de marzo de 2016,
Escrito por Redacción / El Diario
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/notas.php?nota=68059
Al celebrarse este martes el Día Internacional de la Mujer, en México, la violencia contra el género, la falta de oportunidades laborales y los bajos salarios que predominan en el sur del país, ha obligado a miles de mujeres mexicanas a intentar cruzar la frontera en búsqueda de mejores destinos de vida en recientes meses.
Para el fundador y propietario del albergue para migrantes "San Juan Bosco" en Nogales, Francisco Loureiro Herrera, estas problemáticas sociales han obligado a mas féminas a dejar su país de origen y arriesgarse a buscar mejor suerte.
"Ha aumentado el flujo de mujeres, más que hombres en recientes semanas, con el propósito de ingresar de manera ilegal hacia la unión americana y buscar trabajo", comentó.
END
No comments:
Post a Comment