Opposition to BP checkpoint


Friday, July 27, 2007 8:28 AM PDT


By Kathleen Vandervoet

Can a local group of motivated residents and business people change the announced plans of a U.S. government agency?

Members of the recently formed Coalition for a Safe and Secure Border believe they can.

They want to halt design and construction of a large permanent U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint facility in the Amado area on Interstate 19.

A so-called temporary checkpoint on Interstate 19 at the Agua Linda interchange has been open permanently for more than 18 months. In the past 10 years, the Border Patrol has operated temporary checkpoints along Interstate 19 at three interchanges.

A public meeting held in Tubac on July 24 demonstrated a much stronger advocacy role than seen before and the unveiling of a new 15-minute Power Point and video program that presents a sophisticated argument against the Border Patrol's rationale for the checkpoint.

At the same time, an alternate course of action to the checkpoint, described as a comprehensive strategy, has been prepared and was explained. A group of more than120 people attended the session at the Tubac Community Center. Moderators were developer and Realtor Gary Brasher, chairman of the Santa Cruz Valley Citizens Council, formed more than 25 years ago, and Carol Cullen, executive director of the Tubac Chamber of Commerce.

No representatives from the Border Patrol attended, but the purpose of the session was not to hear from government officials. Border Patrol spokesmen have presented their agency's rationale at nearly a dozen public meetings in the past eight months.

Rather, Brasher and Cullen said the purpose of the meeting was to get concerned citizens involved by giving them factual information, and then encouraging them to write to their representatives in Congress and to area newspapers. Individuals were also invited to send donations to the coalition, but an address is not yet available.

Cullen said the checkpoint, as the Border Patrol envisions it, will be larger than was originally announced. "Two weeks ago we learned the proposed checkpoint will be eight lanes wide instead of six lanes and will accommodate up to 150 agents." She said the price tag is about $20 million.

Two other permanent checkpoints are in the planning stages, one in Arivaca and one near Sasabe, Cullen said.

The proposed permanent checkpoint's location has not been pinpointed, but it appears that it will be in the district of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz). For that reason, Giffords sponsored four meetings of interested individuals along with Border Patrol representatives during the past two months.

In November 2006, shortly after she was elected, Giffords said she was opposed to a permanent checkpoint on Interstate 19, but since then she seems to have reversed that position.

Even so, Brasher told the group Tuesday that Giffords has asked for alternatives in the government's efforts to decrease the amount of illegal migrants and drug-smuggling.

He and Cullen then listed the alternatives proposed by the coalition. They include:

- Secure the border at the border by rebuilding the Mariposa and DeConcini ports of entry.

- Use unmanned aerial vehicles to scan for intruders.

- Increase the use of SBI-net towers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

- Build road barriers along more of the border.

- Increase the number of personnel stationed along the border.

The group also urges strategic roving or mobile checkpoints and a better sharing of intelligence and coordination with local and state law enforcement.

Giffords has announced that she will sponsor another meeting about the checkpoint on Tuesday, Aug. 21, at 4 p.m. at the Sahuarita High School auditorium in Pod B.

Other members of the steering committee of the new coalition include Tubac residents Sam Chilcote, Rich and Nancy Bohman and Green Valley area residents Nan and Dick Walden, Jim Di Giacomo and Jim Green.

Cullen said she and others will make the video-based presentation to any interested groups. She can be contacted at (520) 398-2704.


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