AZMEX UPDATE 27 APR 2015
National Sheriffs' group hears concerns of local ranchers
DEREK JORDAN | HERALD/REVIEW
derek.jordan@svherald.com
Sun, 04/26/2015 - 6:32pm
http://www.svherald.com/content/sierra-vista-news/2015/04/26/395733
SIERRA VISTA —Desperate for decisive action to stop the ever-present incursions across their lands by smugglers and illegal immigrants coming north, more than a dozen ranchers and residents from along Cochise County's border with Mexico spoke to representatives of a national sheriff's group on Saturday.
Invited to the area by Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, two leading members of the National Sheriffs' Association visited with locals at the Turquoise Valley Golf Course in Naco to better understand the origin of an issue that has had a national impact.
"This is really where it starts. The sheriffs along the border — whether it's Arizona, Texas, New Mexico or California, it doesn't matter — they're the ones that catch the brunt of it. They're the ones that get the call from the citizens, like those ranchers we heard from. But, when those people get here, get across our border uncontested, then it becomes a national problem," said Harold Eavenson, the third vice president of the National Sheriffs' Association and sheriff of Rockwall County, Texas.
Decades of repairing broken fences, burglaries, home invasions and other crimes associated with smuggling activities have left many border residents disillusioned with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol enforcement, which they see as ineffective, and with elected officials in Washington who are either unaware of the problem or do not consider it a priority.
"The border can be secured, we've proved it in a lot of different areas where the Border Patrol has shut it down, but they've diverted them farther and farther out into the country, into these peoples' backyards. It can be secured, but they have to have a desire to do it, and they have to actually have some directions on how to do it," said Gary Thrasher, a large animal veterinarian who has worked with the ranching community in Cochise County for years.
Rancher Fred Davis lamented what he called a lack of innovation in Border Patrol efforts in Cochise County.
"They never try anything new here, they just pound their head against the wall, the same way they've done it forever," Davis said.
The source of the issue extends to the nation's capitol, however.
"The main thing is, there's no will in Washington to shut down the border, and that's our main problem," he said.
Many of the local ranchers spoke up in support of the efforts of the Cochise County Sheriff's Office, and called on federal leaders to work more closely with local law enforcement.
"What we really need is more involvement with local police and local sheriffs, in directing how to do it in their area, and they can specifically shut down those areas," Thrasher said.
When local agencies work closely with their federal partners, they produce results, said Sheriff Mark Dannels.
An example provided by the sheriff was the early success of a joint task force, the Southeastern Arizona Border Region Enforcement team, established in 2013 and made up of deputies and federal agents from the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"The first six-to-eight weeks they were in operation, they took down 30 people. This is a collaborative effort," Dannels said. "What we're doing at the local level are solutions."
A number of other sheriffs from across Arizona were also present at Saturday's meeting and spoke on the impacts that poor border security was having in their communities.
"The best way to explain it is, it's like a wave. It hits here, five hours later, it's hitting up there," said K. C. Clark, sheriff of Navajo County. "We have illegals going through there. We get into pursuits with them. They wreck cars, or drive them through communities."
Earlier this month, Pinal County Sheriff's Deputies pursued a man going over 100 m.p.h. on the interstate carrying a load of illegal immigrants. The driver, once caught, was found to have been departed from the country 20 times.
"We've got to enforce the law. There's got to be real consequences," said Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.
Leaders in Washington need to take what is known to work and apply it on the border before a catastrophe occurs, he said.
"The culture of Mexico and Central America, they fear their military, and they all realize and know the American military is the most powerful in the world. Keep in mind they want to go without detection into the United States. So we have all these things working for us. We need to deploy armed soldiers, for a period of two years, not to militarize the border, but to gain control of the border, all nine sectors of the US. Border Patrol," Babeu said.
The National Sheriffs' Association can do more and will do more to get the message heard from local ranchers out to national leaders, Eaverson said.
"Someone made the point that, if you're going to fix the problem, you need to talk to the people that deal with it on a day-to-day basis, and you need to get them involved in the process, and he's exactly right," he said. "It starts here, but it doesn't end here."
end
Note: Don't miss the "cronkite" tag
Johnson: Border more secure, but it's not 'mission accomplished' time yet
By TARA TERREGINO Cronkite News
STAFF | HERALD/REVIEW
Sat, 04/25/2015 - 4:32pm
By TARA TERREGINO
Cronkite News
http://www.svherald.com/content/state-news/2015/04/25/395711
WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Friday that the number of people apprehended at the border is "down considerably" from 2014, a sign that investments in border security are paying off.
But Johnson said he is "not declaring mission accomplished" yet and pointed to the fiscal 2016 budget request for Customs and Border Protection, which includes funding for personnel and surveillance technology.
Johnson, giving an update on border security at the halfway point of fiscal 2015, said there were more than 150,000 apprehensions on the Southwestern border as of March, down 28 percent from the same period last year.
"Thus far in FY15, up to and through March 2015, there have been 151,805 apprehensions on the southern border," Johnson said during a briefing at Customs and Border Protection offices in Washington.
"That number is down considerably from where it was this time last year," he said. "It is 28 percent less than the number last year as we were beginning to see the spike in migration on the southern border."
Apprehensions in Arizona mirrored the rest of the border, according to statistics released Friday by the agency, which showed a 32 percent drop during the first half of the fiscal year compared to the same period a year ago. That put apprehensions in the state to the lowest point in more than 20 years.
Todd Landfried, executive director of Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform, said he didn't doubt that apprehensions are down, but he said enforcement is only part of the solution.
"The border is becoming more secure than it has been and the numbers speak for themselves," Landfried said Friday. "But the important thing to know is border security is not going to solve the immigration problem. There needs to be comprehensive reform."
"You have to fix the system by which people can come here legally to work," he said.
Johnson said apprehensions are down despite an improving U.S. economy, which has historically served to attract more immigrants.
Johnson credited the nation's investment in heightened border security in recent years for the downturn, saying that border patrol "now has more personnel, more equipment more technology then in any point in our history."
Johnson also touted a drop in the number of unaccompanied children arrested on the Southwest border so far this year, after a sharp rise in those numbers last summer. He credited part of the success for that drop to cooperation with governments in Mexico and Central America that has helped with enforcement but has also helped stem the numbers of people trying to cross the border by publicizing the dangers of the trip back in those countries.
Despite the gains, Johnson said there is more to be done, including increasing the agency's focus on human smuggling operations.
"We are not declaring mission accomplished we believe there is more that we can and should do when it comes to strengthening border security," he said.
END
Note: drug war not quite over?
Seized in March, more than 97,000 kilos of various drugs
Details Published on Saturday April 25, 2015,
Written by Special / El Diario
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/nota.php?nota=49826
CD DE MEXICO.
The Interior Ministry reported the seizure of 6 million pesos and $862,727 USD.
The National System of Public Safety reported that a total of 97,190 kilograms of drugs among which marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine were seized in March.
In a statement, the Ministry of the Interior (Interior Ministry) reported the seizure of 6,349,003 pesos and
862,727 US dollars.
Also secured 1,123 vehicles; 340 000 72 liters of fuel; and arms 909
Also were secured 123 thousand vehicles; 340,072 liters of fuel; and 909 weapons; 188,757 cartridges and magazines, and 279 communication and computing equipment.
He said that these preliminary data are prepared by the Attorney General's Office.
As rates for intentional homicide, kidnapping, extortion and theft of vehicle with or without violence, aggregated by state and for the last month , is available on the website of the Executive Secretariat of the National System of Public http Safety: // www.secretariadoejecutivosnsp.gob.mx
This database is fed with information provided by the prosecutors of Justice or Attorneys General of 32 states they serve and recorded the corresponding complaints said the Interior Ministry.
end
Local interest: And the body count around Lukeville / Sonoyta goes on. And on. KM 30 between San Luis & Sonoyta & ejido La Nariz.
Matan a dos hombres investigan autoridades de Sonoyta
Detalles Publicado el Domingo 26 de Abril de 2015,
Escrito por Redacción / El Diario
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/nota.php?nota=49871
Sonoyta.
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