David Rookhuyzen Updated 6 hrs ago



SAHUARITA — The system is broken and no one knows quite how to fix it. But for now, the best solution is to get all possible ideas on the record.

That’s the takeaway Monday from a congressional field hearing on securing Arizona’s southern border led by U.S. Rep. Martha McSally in Sahuarita. The three-hour hearing of the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Safety, held in the town council chamber, consisted of one panel made up of law enforcement and elected officials and another of border residents and businesses.

Each panel member read a prepared statement and took questions from McSally and U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico, whose district borders Arizona. Both are Republicans.

McSally said she was holding the hearing because of a disconnect on the issues between policymakers and people who live along the border. All the testimony from Monday was now on the Congressional record for her colleagues to review when making decisions on border security.

“Our intent was to bring Washington to Southern Arizona and bring perspective,” she said.

Some of the topics from Monday:



Secure the border

Art Del Cueto, president of National Border Patrol Council Local 2544, said the agency is down roughly 5,000 agents from where it should be for its mission. The last time the number of agents was increased significantly, many were taken off the border and farmed out to other agencies. Del Cueto said the Border Patrol should have a defense-in-depth strategy and not put all the resources on the border itself.

“We are essentially playing goal-line defense every day,” he said.

Dan Bell, a rancher near Nogales, said that having access to stretches of the border was key to enforcement. A two-mile road was just put in on his ranch along the border, but that took 10 years to accomplish, he said.

“Getting to the border is paramount if one is to protect it,” Bell said.

Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said the plan for border security needs to be redefined, taking what has worked from the past and retooling it for new challenges. He also was one of several who gave testimony that, in addition to any increase in Border Patrol agents, there needs to be an increase in prosecutions of illegal immigrants.

Frank Krentz, a Cochise County rancher whose father, Robert, was killed in 2010 by a suspected illegal immigrant, also said there needs to be judicial reform. He recounted stories of immigrants who know which court jurisdictions will treat them with more leniency if caught.



Commercial interests

A couple of panel members wanted to make sure any increased border security would not hamper a bustling trade with Mexico.

Jaime Chamberlain, president of Nogales, Ariz.-based J-C Distributing Inc., said money should be put into improving the state’s ports of entry to make them more effective and efficient. The recently upgraded Mariposa Port of Entry is understaffed, he said, keeping the local economy from booming.

Chamberlain also said securing the border and meeting commercial demands are not an either/or matter.

“Securing Danny Bell’s ranch and Jaime Chamberlain’s port of entry are equally important,” he said.

Douglas Mayor Danny Ortega said 65 percent of his city’s general fund comes from sales tax revenue, and 80 percent of sales come from those crossing the border to spend money in Arizona.

“We need to view the southern border as an asset and not a liability,” he said.



Immigration reform

Though the hearing was focusing on border security, more than a few witnesses testified that security has to be coupled with an overhaul to the country’s immigration system.

Ortega called for a streamlining of the process for Mexican citizens to obtain B1/B2 border crossing cards to cross into the U.S. to shop or visit.

Pastor Mark Adams with the bi-national ministry Frontera de Cristo, based in Douglas and Agua Prieta, Sonora, said 1990s immigration policies making it harder to cross between the two countries may have actually led to an increase in those entering the U.S. illegally. Those on the border have seen a shift between young men entering the country looking for work toward women and families doing so, he said.

Adams also called the tension between border security and immigration reform a “false” and “dangerous” dichotomy.

Nan Stockholm Walden, vice president and counsel for Farmers Investment Co., said border issues need a multi-layered approach and that the temporary worker system is broken. She advocated for ID cards with biometric markers and other means to allow those who want to work in the U.S. to do so.

“We are confusing Juan and Juanita, who just want to come here to work … with Juan the drug smuggler,” she said.



Internal checkpoints

McSally asked each panel member about their thoughts on the use of internal Border Patrol checkpoints, such as the one on northbound Interstate 19 north of Tubac.

Del Cueto argued they serve a purpose and help deter illegal traffic. The Border Patrol knows that if someone manages to get through the border and then 10 miles into the U.S., the chances of catching them decreases.

“(The checkpoint agents) are not here to give anyone a hard time, they are here to do their job,” he said.

Chamberlain called the checkpoints cumbersome, especially along a huge freight corridor such as I-19. He also said ruts are forming on the road where trucks are stopped and nearby property values are adversely affected.

“I don’t see the checkpoints being that effective,” he said.

Stockholm Walden recommended roving checkpoints that shift time and place to better catch smugglers unawares.

Bell wasn’t sold on the idea of checkpoints but didn’t think it was a pressing issue.

“For now I think it’s a necessity, but let’s keep our focus on getting down to the border,” he said.

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