Thread: AZ:New tool helps agents crack down on undocumented immig

New tool helps agents crack down on undocumented immigration
Reported by: Eric English
Email: eenglish@abc15.com
Last Update: 5:57 am

U.S. Border Patrol truck
Peering out into the darkness somewhere between Tucson and the border, a powerful new tool is helping border patrol agents monitor miles of desert like never before.

From behind the console, Border Patrol agent, Daniel Walker said, "We can cover a lot of border with these trucks."

It's the latest link in a virtual fence protecting the U.S. from undocumented immigrants and drug smugglers.

The M.S.S., or Mobile Surveillance System, allows a single operator to cover vast areas that previously required much more man power.

"Where before, we needed four or five agents, with the technology we need one agent," explained Border Patrol agent Mario Escalante. "The rest of the technology does the work of the others."

The M.S.S. is loaded with powerful equipment on a mobile platform. It has G.P.S., ground surveillance radar as well as infrared and thermal imaging cameras. The systems are tied together by computers, which allow it to track movement and pinpoint the location of potential targets.

Walker explained how the system works, saying, "It's picking up movement and recording the movement, and once it picks up something three times, it records it as a radar hit."

Coupled with a detailed map of the terrain, operators use the camera and radar system to pick up objects over great distances.

"The camera systems we used to have was something that could see two or three miles max," Walker said. "With these cameras, we've seen groups out to ten miles."

The system lets operators know instantly if it's a false alarm, or an illegal crossing.

They can even tell if the group is armed or carrying drug loads.

This night the M.S.S. tracked a group entering the U.S. illegally. Operators used their radios call in additional agents to intercept.

With 23 units in operation, they can be tied together to create an invisible net to snare intruders.

"We can move to areas we feel it is going to see the higher number of entries, depending on the flow of traffic," Escalante said about the machine.

Border Patrol agents say high tech tools like this also help prevent the violence that has become so common in Mexico from spilling over onto US soil.

"If we do this, if we put an impact on them trying to smuggle people and them trying to smuggle drugs through our area, if we put an impact on them, then there's no reason for them to be in that area."

http://www.abc15.com/content/news/centr ... E5zuQ.cspx

There's no replacment for a manned wall. The effort to secure the border has no will from our traitorous government, but these trucks ARE better than nothing.