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05-25-2016, 04:38 PM #1
Amid calls for tighter borders, Florida counties use federal funds to patrol coast
Amid calls for tighter borders, South Florida counties use federal funds to patrol coast
Skyler Swisher Sun Sentinel
Amid calls for tighter borders, Florida law enforcement gets $1.2 million to protect the borders.
Campaign stump speeches this election season have slammed the federal government for not doing enough to protect the country's borders.
But just this month, Uncle Sam wrote a $150,000 check to Palm Beach County to help pay overtime to deputies who patrol the coastline — just a small part of the roughly $20 billion the government spends on immigration enforcement.
While politicians accuse the federal government of not doing enough to police the borders, government spending on the issue is actually at an all-time high, experts say. At the same time, apprehensions at the borders are down steeply from a decade ago.
"It is harder for migrants to enter the United States in an unauthorized fashion than ever before, but it still happens every day," said Christopher Wilson, deputy director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C.,-based think tank. "There is a lag between perception and reality."
Federal money targeted toward immigration enforcement has even made it into the budgets of South Florida law enforcement agencies, thanks to a program called Operation Stonegarden launched in 2009 to enhance border security.
While most Operation Stonegarden funding goes to counties on the U.S.-Mexico border, Florida received nearly $1.2 million in 2015 with Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties getting $460,000 of those funds, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Law enforcement agencies across the country garnered $55 million from the program.
Patrolling the coast
The Broward County Sheriff's Office has put its federal funding to work by increasing nighttime maritime patrols, said Sgt. Giuseppe Weller, who administers Broward's Operation Stonegarden grant.
South Florida is a favored destination for human smugglers, who charge up to $16,000 per person to ferry people from the Caribbean and even as far away as Asia and Russia into the United States, he said.
"They are trying to get a better life," Weller said. "It's very hard to stop something from another country from coming in."
Rather than finding the American dream, some of these people are forced into prostitution and indentured servitude to pay off their debt, he said.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office will use the money it receives to pay deputies overtime to reinforce the department's "presence within communities along the coast," along with intercepting those who have illegally crossed the border, according to a summary provided to county commissioners.
The department will have access to new technology to support its mission. State lawmakers recently appropriated $1 million for the Sheriff's Office to deploy an unmanned aerial vehicle along the coast for drug trafficking, human smuggling and search-and-rescue operations.
Verifying that Operation Stonegarden grants are spent efficiently to strengthen the borders has been one criticism the program has faced, said Rey Koslowski, an expert on human smuggling and professor of political scientist at the State University of New York at Albany.
"It's not all that different from any other kind of bringing home the bacon — whether it's a road, a bridge or a grant for police," Koslowski said.
A 2015 probe by New Mexico's state auditor found questionable spending of Operation Stonegarden funds along the Southwest border.
Four high-ranking officers in the Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office racked up $73,100 in overtime expenses in 2013, increasing their take-home pay by as much as according to the audit.
More boots on the ground
The federal government has taken other steps to strengthen border security, more than doubling the number of border patrol agents from about 9,800 in 2001 to more than 20,000 today. The vast majority of these agents — about 17,500 — are stationed at the U.S.-Mexico border.
But staffing in Miami also increased during this time, going from 58 to 96, according to a federal report.
Meanwhile, apprehensions at the borders are down significantly from 2000 when 1.6 million people were apprehended, including about 6,200 in the Miami sector. In 2015, that number stood at 337,117, including 1,752 in the Miami sector, according to border patrol statistics.
Researchers attribute those falling numbers to demographic changes in Mexico, the slumping U.S. economy during the recession and improved economic conditions in Mexico.
One exception to this trend has been a surge in unaccompanied children fleeing drug violence in Central America, Koslowski said.
GOP presidential contenders say even more needs to be done to secure the borders. Donald Trump has called for building a wall along the Mexican border. Presidential contender Ted Cruz vowed to triple the number of border patrol agents.
While it's debatable how much needs to be spent on border security, stopping border crossings entirely is just not achievable, Wilson said.
"I would be like saying New York City isn't safe until there are zero murders," he said. "That's an unrealistic goal."
sswisher@tribpub.com, 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwisher
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Where the money goes
In 2015, the federal government issued $55 million in grants to help local law enforcement protect the borders. Most of that money went to U.S.-Mexico border, but nine Florida counties also received money.
Miami-Dade: $170,000
Palm Beach: $150,000
Broward: $140,000
Okaloosa: $159,912
Lee: $150,000
Martin: $120,000
Pasco: $100,000
Charlotte: $80,000
Indian River: $80,172
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/pa...529-story.html
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Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.
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05-25-2016, 04:39 PM #2
We have thousands of miles of coastline on the Gulf of Mexico, Pacific and Atlantic where small boats can drop people off day or night.
NO AMNESTY
Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.
Sign in and post comments here.
Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn
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05-26-2016, 08:28 AM #3
End the Cuban Adjustment Act...no wet foot / dry foot. No taxpayer benefits, no anchor baby.
Hand them over into the care and custody of THEIR Embassy for immediate deportation.
Cut off all aid and funding, no Visa's to these countries invading OUR Nation.
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