Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Arizona deputy likens border to war zone at Washington hearing

Yet another reason to admire Babeu's Leadership Style,.....

Sending a trusted subordinate to speak for the situation at home is laudable, and noteworthy.

JaNo's comment, quoted at the end is noteworthy for sheer blither factor,....per usual.

GTC


Link: http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2011...order-to-war-zone-at-washington-hearing/

Arizona deputy likens border to war zone at Washington hearing

By Uriel J. Garcia, Cronkite News Service

Published: October 13, 2011 at 8:40 am

Pinal County Sheriff�s Office Chief Deputy Steve Henry told a Washington panel that fighting crime along the border is like fighting in a warzone in Afghanistan or Iraq. (Cronkite News Service photo by Uriel J. Garcia)

WASHINGTON � Pinal County Sheriff�s Office Chief Deputy Steve Henry said Wednesday that when his deputies go to the border they face a situation similar to a warzone in Afghanistan or Iraq.

�The fact that everybody we encounter, almost, is armed. The only difference is that we don�t exchange shots with them most of the time,� Henry said after speaking to a panel in Washington.

Henry was joined by sheriffs from around the country as part of a discussion panel hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies, an independent organization that advocates for limits on legal and illegal immigration, and the House Immigration Reform Caucus.

Many of those speakers blamed what they called the Obama administration�s lax enforcement of border and immigration laws for the problems they are seeing in their communities, many of which are far removed from the border.

The sheriffs, who also came from Iowa, North Carolina and Maryland, said that because drugs are a problem in their communities it is important that immigration officials support them in their efforts to enforce immigration laws.

Rockingham County, N.C., Sheriff Sam Page said that he has seen an increase of crimes by undocumented immigrants in his community.

�What I tell my deputies is that the problems you see at the border, and you think it�s coming, it�s already here,� Page said.

Henry, referring to drug traffickers pushing drugs through the U.S.-Mexico border, said sheriffs �have terrorists in our own backyard.�

Henry and the other sheriffs agreed that two federal initiatives � Secure Communities and the 287(g) program � have been beneficial for their counties, but that there is room for improvement.

Both programs partner immigration officials with local law enforcement agencies to help identify undocumented immigrants when they have been arrested for the other crimes. Both programs have been credited with contributing to the deportations of record numbers of undocumented immigrants.

�There is a lot of hoops and layers that you have to jump through to (use) 287(g),� Henry said. �Overall we�re happy with it, it�s better than nothing.�

But both programs have been heavily criticized by pro-immigrant activists who say that, instead of targeting criminals, the programs target undocumented immigrants who have not been convicted of crimes.

Some critics have even said that these programs have made it less likely that people in immigrant communities will report crimes out of fear of being deported.

Henry calls that �a disingenuous argument.�

�The reality of things is that it doesn�t affect our relationship,� with immigrant communities, he said.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said that while the sheriffs at Wednesday�s panel expressed satisfaction that federal officials have been partnering with their departments, he does not take the Obama administration seriously when it comes to enforcing immigration laws.

�I�m not going to believe that this administration is serious about cracking down on illegal immigration,� said King who was representing the House Immigration Reform Caucus on the panel.

�There isn�t anything in the next year � that President Obama could do to convince me that he has actually changed his mind,� King said.

The

Department of Homeland Security declined to respond Wednesday to King�s charges, instead pointing to a speech on border security that Secretary Janet Napolitano gave last week in Washington.

�We have committed unprecedented resources to this effort and, this year, will see yet again a historic drop in illegal crossings and more and more contraband seized,� Napolitano said then. �So let�s take the �border is out control myth� out of the equation.�

In other words, the official DHS response to the testimony of someone who lives it every day is; "LALALALALALALALALA I can't hear you!"

Ed

Oh they hear, but they intentioanlly ignore you. Anchorage just got caught with an illegal mexican on the police force. All the cop buddies stood up for him as he was in there union. A few of the native politicians wanted him left alone to. The judge had no choice but to can him when it went public. But he didn't like it you could tell that by his speech. They are here they are already in your police force and in fact teaching your kids in schools and likely babysitting some of your kids as well. All the while teaching them wrong. Why would a deputy say everything is going well? Because he and his buds are on the take that is why. The deputy could have told the truth but instead lied about it and that is why nothing is going to be done about the mexicans. Because they strike fear in the minds of the border locals. Couple million people live along the border and they are the ones saying LALALALALALALALALALALALA. Put the fault where it lies, with the citizens that choose to plug there ears and close there eyes. In fact they are no different than the libtards that choose to ignore them. same same no different. You can't even shame these people in to action. Not possible.

Meanwhile, back along the Rio Grande:

BROWNSVILLE - U.S. Border Patrol agents near Rio Grande City exchanged gunfire Wednesday with gunmen on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande during a $3 million marijuana seizure - at least the third such incident reported during the past year.

No agents were hurt, though it's not known if there were injuries on the Mexican side.

The gunfight came as federal, state and local law enforcement are acknowledging an increasing threat directly across the narrow river, particularly opposite rural areas in Hidalgo, Starr, Zapata and Webb counties.

Citing that threat, the Department of Public Safety on Thursday unveiled the second of what will be a fleet of six specially designed gunboats for patrolling the Rio Grande and Intracoastal Waterway.

In Wednesday's gun battle, the agents spotted smugglers loading bundles of marijuana into two vehicles on the riverbank while patrolling near Roma, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release.

The smugglers sped toward the approaching agents, who opened fire when the smugglers attempted to run them over.

Gunmen in Mexico then began shooting at the agents. CBP said that the exchange occurred in a rural area and that members of the general public were not in danger.

The smugglers left behind nearly 4,000 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of more than $3 million.

looks like we're not the ONLY bunch convening concerned "Committees", either.

GTC

Border security issues dominate legislative committees hearing
March 02, 2012 9:42 AM


McALLEN � Two Texas House of Representative committees gatheredThursday for a more than five-hour hearing on a variety of border issues, from security and intelligence sharing to immigration and first amendment rights.

The Committee on Border and Intergovernmental Affairs, headed by Veronica Gonzales (D-McAllen), and the Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety, headed by Sid Miller (R-Stephenville), met at the McAllen Convention Center to listen to testimony from state and local law enforcement officials, prosecutors, human-rights advocates and business operators.

Border violence took center stage at the meeting with Texas Department of Public Safety Steve McCraw leading the discussion.

�While we feel safe, we�re always concerned about the violence spilling over on our side of the border and affecting the citizens,� Gonzales said during opening statements.

McCraw presented software his agency uses to map multiple layers of information. He asked the lawmakers to help expand that technology to local police departments.

�We need to make data-driven decisions,� he said.

A map on a projection screen showed how DPS uses a multi-layered map to pinpoint drug seizures, home addresses for convicted gang members, smuggling routes and others crucial intelligence used to decipher trends to help deter and combat crime. The software, however, can also be used to map shelters, schools, evacuation routes and other information that can be of value during a natural disaster, McCraw said.

Vast implementation, however, could be somewhat costly, especially with data collection, he said. DPS spent over $1 million on the project.

�Here�s the $1 million question: What does DPS need?� Gonzales asked him.

McCraw said high altitude aircraft �to see and not be seen� could be of help, but clarified later he did not necessarily mean drones.

He thanked the committees for their help in passing a state law the he said helped deter the use of caltrops (spikes) during high-speed chases.

In 2010 and 2011, more than 250 incidents were reported in the Rio Grande Valley sector alone, he said. None have been reported since September 2011, when the law went into effect, making spikes illegal.

Rep. Aaron Pe�a encouraged him and other law enforcement officials to keep an open line of communication so that similar issues could be addressed at the state level.

Communication issues and inabilities between various agencies were also a priority at the hearing.

�If an individual is kidnapped in Edinburg and the police officer needs to call the international bridges, they would have to pick up the phone and call each port of entry. That is unacceptable,� said Monica Weisberg-Stewart of the Texas Border Coalition.

She asked the state to support the coalition�s effort to invest in infrastructure and personnel at the ports of entry, which she called the weakest links along the border.

Wait times are rising and are costing the state money, she said.

Alex Meade of the Mission Economic Business Development Corp. also spoke about trade between Mexico and Texas. The state leads all others when it comes to this type of business, he said.

Meade spoke to legislators about having to make more trips to other parts of the country to persuade potential clients to visit the area.

�Perception is reality,� he said.

The Mission EDC CEO also touched on tourism, which he said is down by almost 50 percent according to hotel owners.

�Border crossings have gone down, but retail sales are the same,� he said. �Mexican nationals are taking less trips, but buying just as much.�

Lawmakers also heard �the other side� of these issues � as Gonzales put it � from representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union and La Union Del Pueblo Entero who spoke during the public comments period.

�A whole lot of bad information won�t get you far,� said Matt Simpson, a member of the ACLU, a national organization that advocates for individual freedoms.

He asked that lawmakers not violate or infringe on privacy rights protected by the first amendment when gathering and sharing intelligence. Biometrics, religious affiliations and military backgrounds should not be kept or listed if they are not relevant to the investigation, he said.

Members of LUPE, a San Juan based non-profit, asked that that they make laws that will not deter undocumented immigrants from reporting crimes, as that could also affect public safety, they said.

While lawmakers heard a slew of testimony Thursday, they are also expected to take part in a border exercise in McAllen today that will showcase area emergency preparedness and border security.

___

Naxiely Lopez covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at [email protected] and (956)683-4434.

Because, like, it is a war zone. The us gov does not have control of land inside its own borders.