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Wednesday, October 12, 2005

$10 million for Border Patrol station: New building will house Willcox-based agents
By CAROL BROEDER/Arizona Range News
The Willcox Border Patrol received $10 million last Tuesday for a new 120-agent station.

"Willcox is really, desperately in need of a new station," U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe said Thursday from Washington D.C.

"They have about 100 agents in a facility built for 15 to 20 agents. They are bursting at the seams," he said.

"This has long been overdue."

The Tucson Sector is getting two new stations, the other in Sonoita, as part of $12.7 million for construction projects in Southern Arizona.

The 150-agent Sonoita station will receive $2.7 million of that funding.

The funding is part of the fiscal year 2006 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill that was approved by both the House and Senate last week, and is headed for President Bush's desk.

In the meantime, temporary buildings are being placed at the site on Rex Allen Jr. Drive and Grant Street in Willcox.

Scott Vantine, acting patrol agent-in-charge, said the Willcox station hopes to move in by mid-November.

"We will maintain this building (at 200 W. Downen St.), but move the majority of our operations" into the modular units, he said.

Vantine said that while it's "hard to say," it could be "three years before the new permanent structure is completed."

Last Tuesday, Kolbe presented a check for $35 million to the Tucson Sector, which it can use at its discretion for construction projects.

The Republican congressman is a senior member of the Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee.

Kolbe's role as a conferee on the House-Senate conference committee for the fiscal year 2006 DHS appropriations bill was key in securing more than $56 million total for the Tucson Sector, said a statement issued by his office on Monday.

In addition to the $21 million requested by the Border Patrol for construction, fencing, lighting, vehicle barriers and roads, the final agreement includes the $35 million specifically for the Tucson Sector to help them protect the border.

"We must secure the border, and this appropriations bill provides the Department of Homeland Security with the resources it needs to get the job done," Kolbe said in last Monday's statement.

"From additional agents, detention space, airplanes, helicopters and UAVs to better technology for securing and facilitating travel into the U.S. by land, air, and sea, this bill has everything needed to protect our homeland," he said.

"I also am thrilled to almost triple the construction funding for the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector. Border Patrol will now have increased financial resources to protect our borders beyond their original plans. The additional $35 million is essentially a blank check. It provides Border Patrol the flexibility to use the money as it sees fit either on new projects or to expedite current projects," Kolbe said.

A total $8.5 million in funding for Southern Arizona includes two projects in Douglas, $2 million for re-constructing a ditch parallel to the border, where erosion is undermining a border fence, and $975,000 to build all-weather patrol roads along the border.

Another $5 million is designated for vehicle barriers and patrol roads in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and the Barry M. Goldwater Range, as well as $543,000 to build an all-weather patrol road along the border on either side of Naco's port of entry.

The conference report provides $30.8 billion for operations and activities of the DHS, including $19.1 billion for border protection and immigration enforcement, Kolbe said.

That is a $1.2 billion increase over fiscal year 2005, he said.

Coupled with funding already in place, the bill will enable the hiring of 1,500 new Border Patrol agents and 568 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in fiscal year 2006.