Thread: Opinion: Another sign failed national border policy hurts Ar

Our Opinion: Another sign failed national border policy hurts Arizona
Tucson Citizen
letters@tucsoncitizen.com
Members of the Pima County Sheriff's Department Border Crime Unit have been given a dangerous and laudable assignment.
But it is an assignment that is not their responsibility. The deputies are pressed into duty only because the federal government has failed miserably in one of its key duties - the legal obligation to control this nation's borders.
A story on the front page of Monday's Tucson Citizen detailed how the six deputies and a sergeant in the Border Crime Unit have been working to get a handle on crime related to the county's proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Sheriff Clarence Dupnik formed the unit in June after a spate of five homicides in the county connected to drug and people smugglers.
And while Dupnik did the right thing in addressing a growing and dangerous crime trend, there have been some negatives.
To free up deputies and resources for the Border Crime Unit, Dupnik was forced to eliminate the Safe Streets Unit, which had been available to respond to areas of trouble throughout the county.
That is just part of the way Pima County taxpayers are getting socked financially.
Dupnik spends $11 million annually - 10 percent of his budget - on border-related crimes. About 10 percent of the county jail population are people who committed crimes while in the country illegally.
There is another less tangible downside to the need for sheriff's deputies to get involved in the fight against border-related crimes: the likelihood that it will be more difficult for deputies to investigate other crimes.
Dupnik has long been leery of his deputies working closely with federal officers from Border Patrol and other agencies.
His reasoning is sound: It will be difficult for deputies to gain the confidence and cooperation of illegal immigrants who may have been victims or witnesses in other crimes.
That is the precise reason local law enforcement agencies have been so hesitant to become directly involved in enforcing federal immigration laws: It often conflicts with their sworn duty to enforce state and local laws.
Dupnik says that is not the case with his Border Crimes Unit, which will address crimes associated with the border and not enforce federal laws.
None of this tightrope-walking would be necessary if the federal government did its job. That must start with Congress, which could make the border area much less busy and dangerous by crafting a program that would allow workers to pass back and forth across the border legally to fill jobs that remain unfilled.
This is only the latest wound that the nation's failed border policies have inflicted on those of us who live in Pima County.
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http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/opinion/66581.php

Originally Posted by jimpasz

Our Opinion: Another sign failed national border policy hurts Arizona
Tucson Citizen
letters@tucsoncitizen.com
Members of the Pima County Sheriff's Department Border Crime Unit have been given a dangerous and laudable assignment.
But it is an assignment that is not their responsibility. The deputies are pressed into duty only because the federal government has failed miserably in one of its key duties - the legal obligation to control this nation's borders.
A story on the front page of Monday's Tucson Citizen detailed how the six deputies and a sergeant in the Border Crime Unit have been working to get a handle on crime related to the county's proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Sheriff Clarence Dupnik formed the unit in June after a spate of five homicides in the county connected to drug and people smugglers.
And while Dupnik did the right thing in addressing a growing and dangerous crime trend, there have been some negatives.
To free up deputies and resources for the Border Crime Unit, Dupnik was forced to eliminate the Safe Streets Unit, which had been available to respond to areas of trouble throughout the county.
That is just part of the way Pima County taxpayers are getting socked financially.
Dupnik spends $11 million annually - 10 percent of his budget - on border-related crimes. About 10 percent of the county jail population are people who committed crimes while in the country illegally.
There is another less tangible downside to the need for sheriff's deputies to get involved in the fight against border-related crimes: the likelihood that it will be more difficult for deputies to investigate other crimes.
Dupnik has long been leery of his deputies working closely with federal officers from Border Patrol and other agencies.
His reasoning is sound: It will be difficult for deputies to gain the confidence and cooperation of illegal immigrants who may have been victims or witnesses in other crimes.
That is the precise reason local law enforcement agencies have been so hesitant to become directly involved in enforcing federal immigration laws: It often conflicts with their sworn duty to enforce state and local laws.
Dupnik says that is not the case with his Border Crimes Unit, which will address crimes associated with the border and not enforce federal laws.
None of this tightrope-walking would be necessary if the federal government did its job. That must start with Congress, which could make the border area much less busy and dangerous by crafting a program that would allow workers to pass back and forth across the border legally to fill jobs that remain unfilled.This is only the latest wound that the nation's failed border policies have inflicted on those of us who live in Pima County.
Subscribe to the Tucson Citizen
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/opinion/66581.php

That is exactly what our country does NOT need. More illegals coming in to work and never going back to their country or origin. The American people do not want illegal aliens working in the US, taking jobs that Americans would fill, if businesses didn't offer the job magnet for cheap labor. No Jobs, Amnesty or Benifits for Illegal aliens and they will go home. The Federal Govt. is not doing their job so the rest of us including law enforcement has to do the best job we can do to put a stop to Illegal Immigration before our country is completely over run with this Invasion, without a shot being fired.[/b]