Border Patrol looks toward hi-tech help
By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 06/11/2008 04:22:54 PM MDT


In the near future, the U.S. Border Patrol will deploy even more sophisticated hi-tech equipment to the border to stem illegal immigration.
At Wednesday's Central Business Association luncheon, Border Patrol officials used a multimedia presentation to show the kind of technological tools being tested in the field. These include strategically placed towers, mobile surveillance systems, radar and fencing.

The surveillance systems being tested can provide agents with images and locations of illegal border-crossers in real time.

Lee Stovall, the U.S. Border Patrol's special operations supervisor, said the technology can distinguish between humans and animals moving in the desert terrain, and can tell how many people are traveling and if they are armed.

However, "this (system) which is good for rural area is not suitable for urban centers like El Paso where there is too much (human movement)," Stovall. "In the city, we would rely on fencing and (manpower)."

Victor M. Manjarrez Jr., chief patrol agent of the Border Patrol-El Paso Sector, said "We don't have these (new hi-tech systems) here yet, because they are still being tested in Tucson."

Manjarrez said the El Paso sector has increased the number of agents it has available to about 2,500 agents compared to less than 1,000 only three and a half years ago. "This represents a great economic and positive impact to the community," he said.

El Pasoans Armando Cardoza and Salvador Gomez, El Pasoans who attended
the presentation, held up a sign that said "secure the border, build the fence, it's national security."
"We're just here to support the Border Patrol," Cardoza said.

A group of students from New Mexico Highlands University doing research on the border also was in the audience.

"The presentation was informative," said Valerie Duran, a senior at the university. "In Northern New Mexico, people are under the impression it's not safe to come to the border, whether it's El Paso or Juarez. I found that not to be the case. I felt safe in both places."

The El Paso city and county governments oppose the Homeland Security Department's project to build a new border fence in the El Paso region, mainly because the federal government may resort to eminent domain to gain access to properties along the border. The Central Business Association has not taken a stand on the issue.

Border Patrol officials said the U.S. Homeland Security Department supports a temporary worker program as part of the government's Secure Border Initiative.

Others in attendance said the more people learn about the Border Patrol's work the more they are likely to get behind it.

Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6140.






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