http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=53700

Legislator wants border road
By Dennis Welch, Tribune
November 22, 2005
A Republican lawmaker thinks building a road along the state’s border with Mexico can stem the flow of illegal immigrants entering the United States.

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Rep. Doug Quelland, R-Phoenix, said U.S. Border Patrol agents would be able to head off groups of immigrants before they enter the country if there were a road.

Once in the country, Quelland said the illegal immigrants are afforded certain rights that waste the time of border agents and taxpayers’ money.

The Phoenix lawmaker filed a bill last week asking the state to spend about $6 million on the road that would wind its way from Douglas to Yuma.

The road, which would not be open to the public, would be a lane-and- half wide and would also help to deliver medical assistance quickly to those needing it, Quelland said.

"This is not just me being an ultraconservative, or whatever you want to label me," he said. "This is also about me being a humanitarian."

Each year, dozens of immigrants die in the state’s remote desert regions after crossing the border.

Money for the road would be evenly divided among the state’s four border counties â€â€