http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news ... 0247&rfi=6

02/05/2007
Deployment slows illegal immigration


Editor's note: This is the second of a three-part series about Operation Jumpstart and the role of the Pennsylvania Army and Air National Guard in the joint program on the U.S./Mexico border.
By Patty Yauger

YUMA, ARIZ. - The young man hung his head as he was led from the holding cell to an area where he would be fingerprinted.

Earlier in the day, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents apprehended him as he made his way from Mexico in to the U.S., and without identification or authorization, his path took an abrupt change of direction, landing him at the Yuma Sector detention center.

His black pants and shoes show signs of mud and dust. He offers his hand to an agent that individually places his thumb and then the fingers of each hand on a screen.

Each man, woman or child that illegally enters the U.S. and is apprehended by border patrol agents within the Yuma Sector is similarly processed, said Miranda Weber, senior patrol agent.

"This is a slow day," she said. "We've only had 80 to 100 come through here."

The number of men illegally crossing the border is 10 times greater than of the number of women.

The figures, said Weber, have dropped significantly since the start of Operation Jumpstart in July.

The two-year federal program deploys volunteer National Guardsmen from across the country for a 90-day tour of duty to assist the border patrol in various capacities, including surveillance, analyzing intelligence, installing fences and vehicle barriers, building roads and providing training.

More than 100 members of the Pennsylvania Army and Air National Guard are participating in the mission, including soldiers from the 1/110th units based in Connellsville Township, Mount Pleasant and Waynesburg.

Before the added manpower, said Weber, the male detention cell would be standing room only for those brought in for illegally crossing the border.

It was not unusual, she added, for up to 800 to pass through the detention center in a 24-hour period.

Agents record personal information, such as their name and birth date, and then their fingerprints are entered into the national Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) used by law enforcement agencies across the country.

Weber said while some might give false information, their fingerprints "don't lie."

Within a span of two minutes, the agents know if the person sitting next to them is wanted by another U.S. agency or has a documented criminal record.

The report indicates the young Mexican has not committed a crime within the U.S., however, because Mexico is not connected to the integrated system there is no way to determine whether he or others that are processed have a criminal background in their native country.

"If they don't have a criminal history, they are returned to Mexico," said Weber. "If they do, and a case is brought against them, they will be detained."

According to border patrol officials, because the guardsmen are on the border, 350 agents have been able to return to traditional frontline duties.

During the first National Guard rotation, more than 5,000 aliens were apprehended; 110 vehicles seized; 28,557 pounds of marijuana and 1,447 pounds of cocaine confiscated; $11,052 recovered and 31 aliens rescued, said officials.

Ron Colburn, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol Yuma Sector, said that the National Guard's presence on the border has reduced the number of those illegally entering the U.S. by 60-percent.

Operation Jumpstart allows for 6,000 Guardsmen to be deployed to the 2,100 mile U.S. border with Mexico. In July, the number will drop to 3,000.

Guardsman Spec. Mark Kuhns, a member of the Connellsville Township 1/110th MX BN unit is on the border for a second tour of duty and has already agreed to volunteer for a third trip.

"It's not a bad gig," he said as he stood at his post, just a few hundred yards from the Mexico border. "I'm helping to keep my country safe."

Maj. Timothy Blayney, 1/110th battalion commander, said the soldiers are to be commended for their sacrifice.

"For many of these soldiers, this comes on the heels of a deployment to Iraq, and their willingness to continue to serve their country in this capacity speaks very highly of them."