Thread: Del Rio border influx drops

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4018573.html

July 2, 2006, 2:14PM

Del Rio border influx drops
Immigrant jail policy, Guard presence are given credit for fewer arrests
By JOHN W. GONZALEZ
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle San Antonio Bureau

DEL RIO - Nearly 5,000 immigrants were arrested in June 2005 trying to enter the United States illegally through this area. But this June, only about 2,000 people were nabbed after crossing the perilous Rio Grande into the stark and punishing brush country of southwest Texas.

Long overwhelmed by immigrants and smugglers, U.S. Border Patrol officials last week said traffic into the region has plummeted because of increased law enforcement, deployment of the National Guard and an experiment with expedited hearings to curtail the "catch-and-release" phenomenon.

"Everything together has just stopped the traffic," supervisory patrol agent Hilario Leal Jr. said.

As a direct result, smuggling is shifting as far away as Arizona, officials said. And in a meeting here last week with Gov. Rick Perry, several border county sheriffs said the drop in immigrant flow corresponds with significant reductions in major crimes.

The sheriffs, along with state and federal law enforcement officers, participated in a three-week crackdown on human and contraband smuggling in the Del Rio region, which includes a 210-mile stretch of the Rio Grande from here to Eagle Pass.

It's not known when or where along the border the next such enforcement push will take place, however, and it remains to be seen how long the dip in activity in Texas will last.

The blitz, which ended June 26, complemented stepped-up Border Patrol operations in this area but didn't involve the Texas National Guard troops who began arriving in mid-June.

Even so, the Guard's internationally publicized deployment apparently has discouraged illegal immigration into Texas, Leal said.

"The mention of the National Guard coming down, that's had a big deterrence on traffic," he said.


Stint in jail
Another significant factor has been "Operation Streamline II," which addresses the "catch-and-release" practice that mainly affects immigrants from nations other than Mexico. Rather than freeing arrested immigrants if they promised to reappear for hearings, federal courts here have been prosecuting immigrants for illegal entry and other offenses. Tagged with a criminal record, they're usually sent to their home countries after being jailed an average of 60 days.

When the operation started in December, judicial logjams kept some apprehended immigrants from being prosecuted, but officials said those have eased.

Now, "if you're caught anywhere in Del Rio sector, you're going to 'Streamline,' " Leal said. "The combination of Streamline and the increased presence of local and state law enforcement has almost brought everything to a grinding halt."

"The courts quadrupled their workload, but it's working fine now. The initial shock to the system was taken well. The ones that were caught in the initial stages of the operation are heading back. It's a major deal," Leal said. Under the program, about 3,400 immigrants from several countries have been repatriated so far, officials said.


Dangerous to cross
A sharp drop in June arrests also was recorded in the McAllen area, where a program to expedite removal of apprehended immigrants began last July. Officials there believe the program is discouraging entry, especially by non-Mexican immigrants.

The waters of the Rio Grande are another key factor in immigration patterns. Despite Texas' drought, the river has been running relatively deep lately, making it dangerous to cross. That, along with a heightened law enforcement, was reflected in daily arrest numbers. One day last week, arrests sank to 38 for the entire Del Rio sector.

"Some days it will spike to 90, but I haven't seen a day when it's been over 100, and it used to be we were catching hundreds and hundreds a day," Leal said.

The change has boosted morale of Border Patrol agents at a time when they're getting relief in the form of National Guard troops, Leal added. In the past two weeks, about three dozen guardsmen set up and assumed some Border Patrol support tasks, freeing patrol officers to return to the field.

"The Guard is a tremendous force multiplier because it lets us get out there," Leal said. "If you've got a guardsman watching a camera, that's an agent that can be out there. It doesn't seem like a lot, but before you know it, you've got an extra 10 guys per shift," he said.

The Guard's two-year mission to support the Border Patrol, as ordered by President Bush on May 15, has been unfolding gradually, with scores more troops expected in this area by late summer.

Unlike California, where Guard officials are straining to find sufficient troops to meet Pentagon goals and timetables, the Texas National Guard apparently has an adequate supply of volunteers making yearlong commitments to border duty. Lt. Col. Jose Figueroa, who commands Guard troops in the patrol's Del Rio sector, said the first soldiers to arrive are operating surveillance cameras and doing dispatching.

"We even have one of these guys taking care of the horses now at the stables," Figueroa said.


A better duty locale
No full Guard units were mobilized, so no mass movement of equipment was required for this deployment. Instead, after briefings at Camp Mabry in Austin, troops arrived under their own power, checked into motels and settled in for several weeks of duty before the possibility of leave.

Yet conditions here are rated nicer than those at the duty stations many of the guardsmen have endured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It beats standing in the sand with a tent. It's much better," Figueroa said.


Support roles only
Only two of the troops assigned here so far are from the area, the officer said. The vast majority left families and employers behind in cities across Texas.

"We all have jobs, but it's the sense of service that we have. It's the sense that somebody has to do it, and it's our call to duty," Figueroa said.

As more troops arrive, they'll be schooled in the Border Patrol's policies on use of force, participate in firearms training and bolster the patrol's ability to observe and report intruders along the river. But patrol and Guard officials insist the soldiers' roles will be support, not law enforcement.

"We are not authorized to apprehend anyone," Figueroa said.

"Actually, what we tell our guys is you should not touch an illegal alien. That's something these guys (Border Patrol) will do," he said.

john.gonzalez@chron.com

This might be more BS. I've heard that the numbers always go down in the summer months because of the heat. So they need to show this year's numbers compared to last year's numbers otherwise, it's just talk with not substance.

Dixie