Babeu on Border Security
March 22, 2011

For Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, the price of leaving the U.S.-Mexico border unsecured is far too high. He argues the U.S. has spent billions of dollars on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and still isn't able to cough up the necessary money to protect its own country. Babeu said, "These are countries half way around the world and were talking about our communites, our families, and the threats it poses to our public safety and our national security.

Although Pinal county doesn't share a border with Mexico it's located right between Phoenix and Tucson, in an area Babeu calls a hot spot for illegal traffic. Last year alone he says the Tucson sector of the U.S. Border Patrol took more than 200,000 people into custody, many for crossing over illegally.

Babeu says if they're looking to fix the problem they need to use the Yuma sector as their guide. Babeu said, "It's proven here what works, deployment of armed soldiers, building and completing a double barrier fence, and then this novel concept which proved to be true in Yuma is you enforce the law.

Laws Babeu says are constantly disputed; something he just doesn't understand. Babeu said, "And somehow, we're un-American if we want to on people who come here and have broken our laws."

Sheriff Babeu adds Mexico is not the enemy; in fact, he says as Arizona's number one trading partner our state depends on Mexico's ability to win the war on drugs. He says more should be done to help our neighbor to the south come out victorious against the cartels, even if it means sending U.S. troops in to assist the government.

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