Border czar: Security concerns exaggerated
BY HOWARD FISCHER
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
September 01, 2011 9:30 PM

TUCSON — The nation's border czar told city officials Thursday that their concerns about security and violence are overblown.

Alan Bersin, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, acknowledged that the number of illegal immigrants being captured in Arizona each year is still in the six-figure range. And he said that is likely to remain the case when the final figures for the federal fiscal year are released at the end of October.

But Bersin told city mayors and council members that it's nothing like it used to be. And he said that despite the gang violence in Mexico, it has not spilled over into Arizona.

That brought a sharp reaction from Gov. Jan Brewer who got her chance after Bersin to address the annual convention of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns.

“I think that we see it from a little different picture,â€