AZMEX UPDATE 24 MAY 2018
Comment: there are many people on this side of the border who don't really want a secure border.
Thx
National Guard plays support role for Nogales BP
Critics call deployment a 'showboat tactic,' say resources would be better used at ports
By Kendal Blust
Nogales International 1 hr ago (0)
https://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/national-guard-plays-support-role-for-nogales-bp/article_53b99240-5fae-11e8-9374-87f63ad72fec.html
Decked out in military fatigues Wednesday morning, Sgt. Leonardo Gastelum lifted an oversized tire off a truck at the Nogales Border Patrol Station garage, where he has been working as a mechanic since being deployed to the border with the Army National Guard more than a month ago.
Arizona Guardsmen like Gastelum were sent to Border Patrol stations throughout Arizona as part of Operation Guardian Support starting in early April. Their mission: free up agents to be in the field by taking on support roles, including working as mechanics, firing range safety officers and surveillance camera operators.
Still, it's hard to quantify how many more agents are on the ground because of the guard's support, Border Patrol spokesman Daniel Hernandez said during a media event at the Nogales Station on Wednesday meant to demonstrate the work the soldiers have been tasked with.
The increase in agents in the field doesn't correlate one-for-one to the number of guard members at the station, he said, but added that their presence is being felt.
"I can tell you from a firsthand representative that it's helping," he said.
President Donald Trump called for the military to be sent to the border earlier this year, apparently in response to reports that a caravan of Central American migrants was making its way through Mexico to the U.S. border.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey supported the move, saying at a press conference in Nogales on April 13 that the National Guard presence would improve public safety and border security, and pointing to a recent spike in apprehension of illegal border crossers as a justification for sending the troops.
However, while the number of apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border rose to 37,383 in March from 26,662 the month before and 12,195 in March 2017, the increase comes after a dip in illegal border crossings in fiscal year 2017 (Oct. 1-Sept. 30) and reflects apprehension numbers similar to previous years. In April 2018, 38,234 undocumented people were apprehended on the Southwest border, a figure nearly identical to the 38,089 apprehensions made during the same month in FY 2016.
U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat from Tucson who represents Nogales and Santa Cruz County as part of Congressional District 3, said in a written statement Thursday that he sees the deployment as "nothing more than a dramatic showboat tactic."
"Those of us who live at the border know the truth – it's not the lawless region of Trump's nightmares. It's home to more than 15 million people who oppose further militarizing their communities," he said. "Instead of engaging in political theater with talks of walls and National Guard deployments, we should be discussing real solutions, like modernizing our infrastructure and technology at ports of entry, to better secure our border."
In response to hearing about the tasks guardsmen are carrying out in Nogales, Kathi Noaker of the local activist group Voices from the Border, said it's sad to see the borderlands painted as a "danger zone."
"Not only is this harmful propaganda, but it's an irresponsible use of resources," she said. "Our tax dollars spent on deploying the National Guard would be much better spent on increasing the number of customs agents at the ports, facilitating the more beneficial endeavor of tourism and cross-border commerce."
Different role
The National Guard has been authorized to deploy 682 troops in Arizona through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, and so far about 400 guardsmen have been sent to Border Patrol stations, Capt. Marcario Mora, a spokesman for the mission, said Wednesday. More than 30 of the soldiers are at the Nogales Station, he said.
Guardsmen can't provide a law enforcement role at the border, and those working in surveillance are barred from looking into Mexico. But spokespeople from both the Border Patrol and National Guard said they didn't feel those parameters limited the troops' effectiveness.
Capt. Aaron Thacker, an Arizona National Guard spokesman, said with both military training and civilian experience, the guardsmen are able to bring a wide array of skills that mesh well with the needs of the Border Patrol.
"They bring in a lot of the civilian skill sets they have with them, and a lot of the things that they learned as they grew up with this world of military and civilian, and that also makes us a unique fit for this kind of support role," he said.
For example, in addition to troops working in surveillance or repairing infrastructure, one guardsman has been tending to horses agents use to patrol wildland areas.
Sgt. First Class Thomas Evitts, who has served with the guard for 19 years, spends his days feeding and watering the mustangs and checking them for injuries they might sustain while riding through the desert, he said.
Evitts, who was also deployed to the border in 2006 and 2010 under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, respectively, said his role is different this time around.
"Last time it was more eyes on the border, whereas this mission is more" focused on getting agents in the field, he said.
Much of the work the guard is doing, from feeding horses to working on trucks, might not seem like it requires military expertise. After all, the Border Patrol already employs civilian mechanics, for example. But Stephanie Dixon, a spokeswoman with the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, said having the National Guard's support is also a matter of deterrence.
"It's also the danger factor that comes into play because unfortunately we have migrants who die in the desert," she said. "So not only is it protecting the border from illicit activity, but it's also saying, 'Hey, don't come here illegally because you're going to get potentially injured or dehydrated.'"
While no one could say if the military members will remain past the end of the fiscal year, Dixon said the Border Patrol hopes the support will continue, calling it a collaboration that helps both sides.
Despite being away from their homes in Tucson and Phoenix, the guardsmen said they're OK with the arrangement, too.
"It's our duty. We volunteer for this and we are going to do our job," said Gastelum, the mechanic, a 26-year-old Tucson resident. "I'm going to do the job they ask for me to do. That's what we're here for."
End
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