Our Lawless Mexican Border
In Arizona, antipathy toward illegal immigration has more to do with security than cultural concerns.

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By LEO W. BANKS

Douglas, Ariz.

A great sadness will descend over this border town today as mourners fill the local high school gym to pay their respects to Rob Krentz. Two weeks ago, the 58-year-old rancher was shot and killed by what appears to be a drug smuggler. His death has created a tidal wave of emotion—Krentz was a pillar of this community where his family has ranched land here for a century. "The sobbing and crying from people I never thought I'd see cry, it's unbelievable," local veterinarian Gary Thrasher told me.

Americans who do not live along the Mexican border often assume the antipathy to illegal immigration arises from racial or cultural concerns. But talk to people on the ground, and what they fear most is the loss of personal security. They are angry that the federal government is unable to provide them with this most basic of human rights.

Last year the Border Patrol made an astonishing 241,673 arrests in the Tucson Sector, which covers 262 miles. Arrests in Douglas are up 25% this year—in part because tighter security elsewhere has funneled traffic through this remote region. Border agents say that 17% of the people they arrest in the sector have U.S. criminal records.

On the morning of March 27 Krentz was working on his 35,000-acre ranch when he radioed his bother Phil to say he was in trouble. Krentz's body was found in his Polaris Ranger. Trackers followed the trail of his apparent killer about 20 miles to the border where he crossed into Mexico. As of this writing, the suspect is still at large.

The Krentz ranch sits along the Chiricahua Corridor, a well known smuggling route with dirt trails pounded smooth by decades of foot traffic. For years, Rob's wife, Sue, has written pleading letters to politicians, media and others, detailing how the smuggling of drugs and people has become so bad that family members feared for their lives.

"It's worse than anybody knows," rancher Ed Ashurst told me. "There are outlaws roaming around with guns, and if you jack with them they'll kill you."

Louie and Susan Pope, who live outside the town of Portal some 46 miles from Mexico, lock their valuables in a safe before taking morning horseback rides. They've had three break-ins. According to Susan, the one-room school in Apache where she is a teacher and bus driver has been broken into so often there's nothing left worth stealing. "Americans shouldn't have to live like this," she told me. She is Rob Krentz's sister.

Most illegal immigrants enter the country to work, not to commit serious crimes, and even hard-hit ranchers say some crossers treat property respectfully. But the bad guys are winning. Many of the worst are "south-bounders"—coyotes who have dropped loads of people or drugs and are heading home. They kick in doors looking for food, water, guns or cash.

Krentz was a big-hearted guy who was quick to help anyone in need and always calmed people down whenever tempers flared. Now, residents are directing their passions at their political leaders.

At an extraordinary outdoor meeting at the Apache School

following Krentz's death, 400 of them gathered in the cold Geronimo wind to press Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and Republican Senate hopeful J.D. Hayworth for help. In response, Ms. Giffords has written to President Barack Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano asking for National Guard troops to be sent to the area. Sen. John McCain, pressed from the right by Mr. Hayworth, is doing the same.

If the troops come, people in Douglas tell me, they need to be stationed along the border and told to stand their ground. It unnerves them that the Border Patrol often backs far off the line to patrol deep in American territory. This cedes ground to drug runners and gangs. "We're chasing people 10 miles up, 40 miles up, and it's after the fact," Mr. Thrasher told me.

In a Douglas gun shop after the shooting, I watched customers stream in to buy safes and pistols. Even bird-watching ladies from Portal are arming up—they see the threat clearly and understand they face it alone.

The spectacle reminded me of the comment Barack Obama made during the presidential campaign about bitter, small town Americans clinging to guns and religion. Now his administration is reducing Border Patrol's budget, cutting the number of agents, and denying requests for more vehicles and equipment. The disconnect between Washington's priorities and the border lawlessness creates a sense of abandonment here, leaving many to feel that yes, God and guns are what they have left.

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