http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=5244762

Border town exemplifies ever-shifting immigration patterns


PALOMAS, Mexico The border town of Palomas, Mexico, began to emerge as a top staging area for smugglers five years ago when tighter enforcement in Arizona slowly shifted a stream of immigrants toward southwestern New Mexico.

But the town square in Palomas is no longer thick with people waiting to sneak across the border into New Mexico.

The square is lined with four empty school buses waiting for customers to haul to easier crossing points.

Palomas' role as a gathering point for smuggling has diminished.

A buildup of Border Patrol agents, surveillance cameras, vehicle barriers and National Guard soldiers have steered most of the immigrant traffic away from the neighboring village of Columbus, New Mexico's busiest crossing point.

The shift is part of a common pattern seen in recent years: Crackdowns in one section of the border send immigrants and smugglers flooding to other areas, so the front is ever-changing.

While traffic has slowed in Columbus, officials said immigrant traffic continues to rise at border sections nearby.