Thread: AZ: Defending the Border

News 4 Special Report: Defending the Border
Lorraine Rivera
Posted: Nov 9, 2007 07:40 AM PST

The sun sets beyond the border. News 4's Lorraine Rivera is riding along with Border Patrol in a dark, unmarked SUV. Rivera is wearing a bullet proof vest. The road is rough. Agents call this the "rollercoaster". Night falls and the desert darkens.

"We saw some scouts on the other side," says Agent Miguel Jimenez. "Usually that's an indicator for us. If they're up there looking for us, something is happening."

We watch these men scale the wall. It takes only seconds before they see us and slide back south. Agent Jimenez points out, "That is a famous spot. Also, exactly how they were doing it [is how] they'll bring dope in. [It's] just like that."

Miguel Jimenez has been an agent for seven years. "For them it's a business. What they're trying to do [is] a big boy game of hide and seek." We only saw this man because he was wearing white. He's quick as he slips back across. We can't even see him through night vision goggles.

We drive though downtown Nogales, through neighborhoods, and then wait. Over the radio we hear, "[We're] going to need a hand over here. I got the group."

We move fast with lights and sirens. An agent's safety is always key. As Agent Jimenez scales down a hill, he notes, "You go sideways. It's easier than going forward." The brush is thick, but just a few yards away there they are a line of men under arrest. Miguel asks [them] for documents. They say, "No tienen documentos." Miguel responds, "So then you don't have documents?" They mumble, "No." They will get a short ride in this truck, but for now their journey is over.

We drive north. Mario Cano takes the lead this time. He's been an agent for 11 years. "We had a vehicle come out of an area that is notorious for drug and alien smuggling." The driver doesn't stop. We're hot on his trail. Then, the suspicious driver gives up. Cano says, "We're not [in] a marked Border Patrol vehicle right now. He got nervous once we pulled him over. We identified ourselves as Border Patrol agents."

Later in town in the trunk of this car there are clothes and food [which are] signs of a smuggler. But, the driver is a U.S. citizen and he's not doing anything wrong. Agents have to fall back. Cano says, "This time they got us but at least we're out there looking." Agent Jimenez quickly points out to us, "[Look] right by the fence...right by the light see him?"

Rivera notes, "Daring as it may be to jump right over the fence in the heart of town, it's an ideal situation because the brush is thick and you can slip into a neighborhood."

On foot, we search abandoned buildings, around homes and through yards, but find nothing. And there along the fence is the coyote, the smuggler, who smiles and waves.

It's a busy night, a busy border, but just another day in Nogales.

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=7336230&nav=HMO6HMaW

The more I read and learn the more angry and proactive I become.

Desperate times call for desperate measures--the border needs to be closed and closed now.........I don't care if they have to hire Blackwell to do it! CLOSE THE BORDER.

I am with you on this one Myamerica. Duncan Hunter was on Glenn Beck's show tonight talking about how the Bush admin and the sec. or homeland security are dragging their feet on the border fence. THEY DON'T WANT TO BUILD IT AND THAT IS THE BOTTOM LINE. It makes me very angry the way these Mexicans and who ever else can just come into this country at will and nothing is being done about it. Mexico has their military on their southern border but when we want to build a fence on our southern border with them, they have a fit about it and our stupid government listen to their concerns and not ours. What kind of war on terror is Bush fighting? and who is he keeping safe? The only war he is fighting is a war against the American people. This man lied when he took the oath of office not once but twice. Impeachment should be on the table for him a lot of other people in Washington. The speaker of the house for one needs to be impeached.

I totally agree with you LadyStClaire. But the first step would have to be stripping Nancy Pelosi from her office as Speaker of the House. Efforts are already under way to impeach Vice President Richard Cheney--if that should happen the president simply appoints a new vice president.

This scares me--if Bush and Cheney should simultaneously become disabled and unable to carry out the presidency Nancy Pelosi becomes president (TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA). Regardless who becomes president in 2008, Nancy remains Speaker of the House as long as there is a democratic majority in the House--Incentive to vote Republican for House members in 2008.

The Presidential Succession Law of 1947 provides for the possiblity of simultaneous disability of both the president and vice president. In order for these individuals to assume the presidency, they must also meet all the legal requirements to serve as president.

1. Vice President of the United States
2. Speaker of the House
3. President pro Tempore of the Senate
Then followed by the President's Cabinet in the following order of succession:
4. Secretary of State
5. Secretary of the Treasury
6. Secretary of Defense
7. Attorney General
8. Secretary of the Interior
9. Secretary of Agriculture
10. Secretary of Commerce
11. Secretary of Labor
12. Secretary of Health & Human Services
13. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development
14. Secretary of Transportation
15. Secretary of Energy
16. Secretary of Education
17. Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs
18. Secretary of Homeland Security

"The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior." Dr. Phil