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Local man gets closeup look at illegal immigration problem

By ARTHUR HAHN/Managing Editor
They flit from shadow to shadow, from mesquite tree to mesquite tree. Always heading northward.

And they're here illegally, sneaking into the United States by the hundreds of thousands each year.

John Deans, a Burton-area computer consultant, spent six days in South Texas watching small groups of illegal immigrants trudging into the U.S.

Deans joined fellow Minuteman Civil Defense Corps members earlier this month who sat for hours along the borders of four states and Mexico.

Deans, there Oct. 8-13, manned an observation post on a 2,000-acre private ranch whose owner says 1,000 illegal aliens a night wander across it.

By the end of two weeks, more than 250 illegal aliens had been reported at that Minuteman post. Fifty were caught, said Deans.

Only a very small percentage of those walking into the U.S. from Mexico are caught.

Members of the MCDC say their role is to help the undermanned, under-equipped Border Patrol by serving as extra “eyes� to monitor the movement of illegal aliens.

And Deans said he saw much of that.

They usually come in small groups, under cover of darkness between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. Smugglers called “coyotes� are guides for illegal aliens, charging thousands of dollars for their services.

“The ‘coyotes' are tough and they're mean and they're nasty,� said Deans.

MCDC members just sit there quietly, staring through high-tech night vision goggles and speaking only when they spot an illegal alien.

That information is then relayed to an MCDC checkpoint and then to the Border Patrol. Under optimum conditions, an agent arrives within minutes and captures the illegals.

But that rarely happens.

Deans said the illegal immigrants often melt away into the darkness, despite the best efforts of agents.

“One guy (Border Patrol agent) would show up. And he'd go out in the pitch black after a dozen people, all by himself,� said Deans. “They're very brave men.�

On the downside, human smugglers often have better equipment than the agents themselves. And there aren't enough agents to go around.

While Deans said he himself was not involved in any life-threatening situations, several of his counterparts found themselves being pursued by a large group of illegal aliens.

“They were aggressive and they were after our guys. But our guys never drew their weapons,� he said. “Our guys did not use force. They did not let themselves get into a vulnerable position.�

Instead, they got into their vehicle and just left, said Deans.

While most illegal aliens continue to be from Mexico, Deans said that number is dropping.

A third of the illegal aliens now entering the U.S. come from a wide variety of countries, including those in Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, he said.

There have also been confirmed reports of terrorists now in Mexico who are being trained how to “blend into the natives,� Deans added.

The solution, MCDC believes, is a “West Bank style� fence effectively used by the Israelis, said Deans.

The fence includes razor wire, ditches and roads that form a 50-meter wide barrier. At a cost of up to $3.7 million a mile, however, it isn't cheap.

But even with a $10 billion price tag for such a fence on the border with Mexico, that “is still less than we spend on incarcerating illegal aliens and on social services that are being drained by illegal aliens,� said Deans.

“We need to stop the leak. We need to stop the bleeding,� he added. “We want them to come through the front door and sign the guest book.�