Government Does Study On Border Patrol And Quality Of Life
Miri Marshall-Weekend Anchor/Weathercaster/News Reporter

7:19 pm MDT August 29, 2009

PHOENIX, Arizona -- A preliminary government study found the Border Patrol isn't measuring how its checkpoints along the border affect the quality of life in surrounding communities.

A Government Accountability Office draft found that the Border Patrol hasn't documented how many agents it needs to confront smugglers sneaking around a proposed permanent checkpoint on Interstate 19 in southern Arizona, among other findings.

Residents near a southern Arizona checkpoint have complained that illegal immigrants and smugglers are flooding their community as they sneak around the roadblock. The Border Patrol operates a checkpoint at an overpass in Tubac, Ariz.

The report is scheduled for release Monday. The Associated Press obtained its highlights on Friday from a congressional source who asked not to be named because the report hasn't been officially released.

The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, examined the performance of checkpoints and the extent to which Border Patrol considered the effect of checkpoints on nearby communities.

Border Patrol spokesman Omar Candelaria and C.J. Karamargin, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of southern Arizona, declined to comment on the draft report.

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, who left office more than two years ago, had supported measures that had withheld funding for permanent inspection stations. Kolbe argued checkpoints that are periodically moved are more effective than permanent ones because they introduce the element of surprise to smugglers.

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