Thread: Feeling frustrated at border

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Feeling frustrated at border


Residents struggling with the persistence of migrant traffic
By Leslie Berestein
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 24, 2005

BOULEVARD – The migrant trails form a maze through the creosote bushes and shrubs in this remote border community, all within plain view of homes and ranches.

These narrow dusty paths lead straight over the wooden and wire fences that line the perimeter of Ed and Donna Tisdale's ranch. One leads across their driveway. It's been a decade since they began mending fences, and they still are.

"Just about every piece of fence has been broken," said Donna Tisdale one recent morning, pointing to a patched-up section of wooden fence that has yet to be painted. "They come right across the road onto our property."

Residents of East County border communities have been in the path of human-and drug-smuggling traffic since the federal government fortified the border south of urban San Diego in 1994.

The heavy migrant traffic that had primarily come through the city moved first through rural East County and the Imperial Valley, then through the deadly deserts of Arizona, and more recently into New Mexico.

Today, apprehensions of illegal border crossers in the Border Patrol's San Diego sector are less than a quarter of what they were a decade ago. Yet while the brunt of human-smuggling traffic has bypassed Southern California, there is still enough to frustrate border residents.

In recent months, the immigration debate has gained momentum in Washington, D.C., as legislators wrangle over guest-worker programs and national security measures. It has generated a different sort of heat along the Southwest border, where dozens of self-styled border watch groups have staged controversial civilian patrols, many of them armed.

Meanwhile, as the debate over how to curb illegal immigration continues, some East County residents are saying they have lost patience with the official channels. The Tisdales, among others, have agreed to let civilians patrol their property a mile and a half from the border because, as Donna Tisdale recently put it, "we're getting to the end of the line."
"I've had a lot of calls from people wanting to help, but at that time I had faith in my government," said Tisdale, 52, who over the years has voiced her concerns in the media and as a result has fielded calls from all manner of people offering their services, including militia members and some people she referred to as "wackos."

Until recently, she declined. But a few months ago, when an organizer from a group called Friends of the Border Patrol approached her, she changed her mind.

"This has been going on for a long time," she said. "I finally had to say, 'We need help.' "

The civilian patrols are not welcome by all East County border residents. Some believe they put a drain on law enforcement called out to monitor their patrol events, which draw not only participants, but crowds of protesters. Other property owners are wary of liability issues.


Irked at Congress
But the level of frustration voiced by border residents like Tisdale is commonplace, regardless of how they feel about border watch groups. Many are frustrated not only by the foot traffic through and around their properties, but by what they believe is a lack of political will in Congress to go after employers who hire illegally.
"I think that is where most of us out here agree," said Roger Challberg, 75, a Campo resident who disapproves of amateur patrols. "The solution is to cut off the market for drugs, and to cut off the market for people. If I've got ants coming in the front door, I can stand there with my foot and stamp them out one by one, or I can pick the sugar up off the floor."

As some residents see it, too much of the focus has been on stamping. Last week, the U.S. Homeland Security Department moved to waive environmental and other laws in order to construct additional border fencing south of San Diego, causing concern that whatever traffic this curbs will simply shift east as it has done before.

Additionally, some San Diego agents have been sent to cover hot spots farther east, including on a recent detail to New Mexico.

Border watch groups look at Border Patrol agents having been sent to perform duties elsewhere – including the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina – as a reason for staging patrols.

"They say they want to fill in the gap," said Chris Bauder, president of Local 1613 of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents San Diego-area agents. "Give me a break, you guys aren't filling in anything. They are taking the opportunity, seizing it, and people are believing it."

The Border Patrol officially disapproves of civilian patrols. Bauder is skeptical about the political motives of some border-watch leaders, but he said he understands the frustrations of border residents who choose to support them.


'Hot-button issue'
"Everyone sees (illegal immigration) as a hot-button issue," he said. "Then you have mixed into that some people who are really fed up. They are living in an area where they see the impact of illegal immigration not being controlled."
The Tisdales see the impact on their property daily. Aside from the manicured plot they live on, much of their 210-acre ranch is covered with brush, with an occasional stand of trees. It is an ideal place for hikes or for riding a horse. But when Donna Tisdale goes out hiking, she brings a trash bag.

Scattered along the trails that crisscross the property are plastic water bottles. Sometimes there is clothing. She has even found a Bible. One recent morning, a bag stuffed with booties made out of blankets, which smugglers have their clients slip over shoes so as to disguise footprints, sat near the front porch.

She also brings a gun on her outings. Some boulders are sprayed with graffiti, which she believes was put there by deported gang members trying to make it back home. She and other neighbors are also worried about an increase in drug traffic through the area, which they say has proven too lucrative even for some locals to resist.

This is one reason why Challberg, who volunteers for the Sheriff's Department, says he'd rather have more cops patrolling, not civilians. During a border watch event staged in Campo in July by a group that promoted carrying firearms, the department had to call in around 25 deputies, most on overtime, to keep peace between the group and protesters.

"If you didn't have the border watchers, you wouldn't have protesters," Challberg said. "As far as I am concerned, the money we are spending, you'd be better spending on hiring more deputies and CHPs. There is a lot of drug stuff (going on), so we need law enforcement. We need someone who can arrest people."


Smugglers' cars in pasture
Nearby, Campo resident Larry Johnson sometimes sees smugglers' cars in his pasture, picking up people who have crossed on foot before heading toward the freeway.
Johnson said he's not opposed to border watch groups that are peaceful and unarmed, so long as they obey laws and don't interfere with the Border Patrol.

Even so, he said he would feel uneasy about hosting them. A group of legal organizations recently placed ads in community newspapers warning property owners of liability problems if they host patrols and someone is hurt.

"If I wanted to help them I would, but I would have to think about it twice," he said.

Tisdale, who said she's already liable just because people come onto her property, said that Friends of the Border Patrol has promised her they will be in the area this weekend. Last week, the group postponed patrols following low turnout at a training meeting and resistance from protesters.

Next weekend, another border watch group plans to come to the area.

Regardless of who shows up, Tisdale just hopes the message will get to Washington that people like her are tired of being in a border-crossing zone.

"We just want the situation addressed," she said. "It's just a big mess, and we are in the middle."

Originally Posted by Brian503a

"They say they want to fill in the gap," said Chris Bauder, president of Local 1613 of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents San Diego-area agents. "Give me a break, you guys aren't filling in anything. They are taking the opportunity, seizing it, and people are believing it."

The Border Patrol officially disapproves of civilian patrols. Bauder is skeptical about the political motives of some border-watch leaders, but he said he understands the frustrations of border residents who choose to support them.

This guy is full of it. I've been a CA MM for a very short time but the Border Patrol Agents I've been in contact with have been very appreciative of our help. They've defended us against protesters and looked out for us in return for the help that we've been giving them. That is a fact.

This guy is a Bush spokeshole.