Our Opinion: Get serious - border efforts not the answer
Tucson Citizen
This week's announcement that more than 500 additional agents will patrol the Arizona-Mexico border is just the latest example that real solutions to border problems remain elusive.
The announcement came days before today's launch of the Minuteman Project, which organizers claim will bring hundreds of civilians to the border in Cochise County to watch for illegal immigrants.
And to further inflame passions, Mexico's foreign relations department said it will file criminal complaints if any Minutemen illegally detain Mexican citizens in the United States.
These events come as the border's deadliest season of the year approaches. If previous years are any indication, several hundred immigrants will die this summer as they try to cross the Arizona deserts to enter the United States illegally.
All of this adds up to plenty of talk, but little focus on real long-term solutions.
To be sure, more Border Patrol agents are needed in Arizona. The patrol's Tucson Sector, which covers all of Arizona except the Yuma area, accounts for 51 percent of the nation's immigrant arrests but has only 25 percent of the agents.
It is unfortunate that many of the additional agents apparently will arrive here after the killer summer months. The sooner they are on the ground, the better.
However, more agents are only one step in securing the border. There must also be other technology and detention facilities. Beefed-up enforcement plans announced this week do not include money to operate unmanned aerial vehicles or to create more cells to accommodate the anticipated increase in arrests.
Robert C. Bonner, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, this week vowed, "We will shut down" the desolate border area west of Tucson. Isolated and rugged terrain makes that unrealistic.
The federal government's continued failure to control the border has fueled all sorts of schemes. The Minutemen think they can help. But unqualified, untrained civilians - some with firearms - running blindly around an unfamiliar area populated by illegal immigrants, drug and people smugglers, residents and law enforcement officers is a worrisome prospect.
Even with these renewed efforts by law enforcement officers and pseudo-border protectors, the border never will be sealed. The law of supply and demand reigns supreme, with American employers seeking workers while Mexicans seek work.
Our federal leaders continue to overlook what is really needed: sound, thoughtful immigration reform to accommodate guest workers while keeping Americans safe. Everything else is mere window dressing.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=opinion&story_id=040105b4_edits
Tucson Citizen
This week's announcement that more than 500 additional agents will patrol the Arizona-Mexico border is just the latest example that real solutions to border problems remain elusive.
The announcement came days before today's launch of the Minuteman Project, which organizers claim will bring hundreds of civilians to the border in Cochise County to watch for illegal immigrants.
And to further inflame passions, Mexico's foreign relations department said it will file criminal complaints if any Minutemen illegally detain Mexican citizens in the United States.
These events come as the border's deadliest season of the year approaches. If previous years are any indication, several hundred immigrants will die this summer as they try to cross the Arizona deserts to enter the United States illegally.
All of this adds up to plenty of talk, but little focus on real long-term solutions.
To be sure, more Border Patrol agents are needed in Arizona. The patrol's Tucson Sector, which covers all of Arizona except the Yuma area, accounts for 51 percent of the nation's immigrant arrests but has only 25 percent of the agents.
It is unfortunate that many of the additional agents apparently will arrive here after the killer summer months. The sooner they are on the ground, the better.
However, more agents are only one step in securing the border. There must also be other technology and detention facilities. Beefed-up enforcement plans announced this week do not include money to operate unmanned aerial vehicles or to create more cells to accommodate the anticipated increase in arrests.
Robert C. Bonner, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, this week vowed, "We will shut down" the desolate border area west of Tucson. Isolated and rugged terrain makes that unrealistic.
The federal government's continued failure to control the border has fueled all sorts of schemes. The Minutemen think they can help. But unqualified, untrained civilians - some with firearms - running blindly around an unfamiliar area populated by illegal immigrants, drug and people smugglers, residents and law enforcement officers is a worrisome prospect.
Even with these renewed efforts by law enforcement officers and pseudo-border protectors, the border never will be sealed. The law of supply and demand reigns supreme, with American employers seeking workers while Mexicans seek work.
Our federal leaders continue to overlook what is really needed: sound, thoughtful immigration reform to accommodate guest workers while keeping Americans safe. Everything else is mere window dressing.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=opinion&story_id=040105b4_edits