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  1. #1
    Administrator Jean's Avatar
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    AZ: County attorney visits the border for first-hand look

    County attorney visits the border for first-hand look

    By Joanne C. Twaddell
    The Daily Courier

    Sunday, July 06, 2008


    Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk recently visited the Arizona/Mexico border to see first-hand the problems and solutions for illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
    Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk can now add "flying in a Blackhawk helicopter" to her resumé.

    "It was so cool," she said. "The sensation of flying so low and it being so loud - we couldn't have a conversation. It was fascinating to see the state from the air and just how rugged the land is near the border. I could see hundreds of paths and roads coming into the U.S."

    Recently, she and two other members of the MAT Force Executive Committee, Doug Bartosh, Cottonwood city manager, and Kim Haddow, citizen representative, spent the day learning about operations at the Arizona/Mexico border near Nogales.

    They toured the border area through a joint effort with the National Guard and U.S. Border Patrol to see the effects of Operation Jump Start, a two-year program that ended in June.

    In 2006, President Bush called up 6,000 National Guard members to help the Border Patrol on the front line to build fencing, new roads, water wells and logistical and administrative support.

    "The territory is so rugged that when the National Guard arrived, only 43 percent of the vehicle fleet was operating," Polk said. "In two years, the guard was able to bring that up to 80 percent."

    States bordering Mexico include California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. National Guard units were able to build 90 additional miles of fence, mostly along the Arizona border in areas with the easiest access. "The fence is made of steel and has see-through slats," she said.

    Polk toured the dispatch and surveillance areas and saw the cameras that monitor the area. "Three different holding areas are available for the individuals once Border Patrol processes them - voluntary deportation, a hearing area, and another area for extradition if they are wanted in the U.S.," she said.

    While she was there, Polk saw Border Patrol agents apprehending young men, but said that statistically those who are trying to cross the border are 80 percent men, 17 percent women and 3 percent children.

    Gov. Janet Napolitano has asked President Bush to extend the Operation Jump Start Program, but Polk is uncertain if that will happen. "Over the two-year interim where the National Guard bought them time, the Border Patrol has been actively recruiting and hiring enough people to make up for those who are leaving," she explained.

    Polk was impressed with the professionalism of the Border Patrol and National Guard in the way they treated the illegal aliens. "I was overwhelmed with the sheer number of people crossing and being apprehended," she said.

    In 2007, the Border Patrol apprehended about 400,000 individuals, an average of more than 1,000 each day, according to Polk. That includes 570 life-and-death rescues of people caught in the heat.

    "It is fascinating to me to see the effects of illegal drug trade," Polk said. "I toured a room where they had seized 1 million pounds of marijuana. That is after the border checkpoint, after the Tucson checkpoint and after Yavapai County stops on I-17 and I-40. How much more is still out there?"

    She explained that each bale of marijuana, shrink-wrapped and covered in burlap, has makeshift straps added, making each bale something like a back pack. "Each person carries over one bale and leaves it at a pre-determined site."

    Nogales, Ariz., has 22,000 residents; Nogales, Mexico, has 440,000.

    "You can see houses for miles and miles," Polk added.

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  2. #2
    Senior Member tencz57's Avatar
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    "I was overwhelmed with the sheer number of people crossing and being apprehended," she said.
    Trust me lady . We do recognize the problem even without a Blackhawk to protect us . I don't understand this waste of fuel and man power ?
    Nam vet 1967/1970 Skull & Bones can KMA .Bless our Brothers that gave their all ..It also gives me the right to Vote for Chuck Baldwin 2008 POTUS . NOW or never*
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