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From KATV:
Tracking Illegal Immigrant at The Border
Location: Arkansas
Reporter: Anne Pressly
Posted: July 19, 2006 9:58 PM EST
URL: http://www.katv.com/news/stories//345960.html

Arkansas -

The number of illegal immigrants in the state of Arkansas alone increased by more than 400 percent between the years 1990 and 2000. Arkansas soldiers are assisting the US Border Patrol to keep illegals from crossing into the states from Mexico.



Channel Seven's Anne Pressly recently traveled to the Border where she followed the 39th Infantry Brigade's involvement in "Operation Jump Start" and brings us this story.



A trail of dust is left behind by a vehicle dubbed "The Freedom Bus" by US Border Patrol. Inside are Mexicans likely headed for a nearby town known to be an easy entry point in to the United States. The bus speeds across the Mexico desert just south of the Border under the watchful eyes of two Georgia National Guardsmen.



(Shem Peachy, US Border Patrol)"I don't know if you can see it from where you are, but there's a bus that's going down the south side of border line rd."



These Guardsmen are part of what's called an "Entry Identification Team" or "E.I.T." Their mission as defined by Operation Jump Start is to spot people trying to sneak across the Border. The National Guard is the eyes and ears of this operation. It's the soldiers' duty to alert Border Patrol to any and all suspicious activity. And in a matter of days Arkansas troops will take on similar responsibilities to the Georgia soldiers there.



(Peachy)"They're going to fill that gap between now and the time we have the build-up to get the people out here that we need to get the right mix of technology and infrastructure on the southwest Border of the United States."



Lordsburg, New Mexico Border Patrol agent in charge Shem Peachey says his agency desperately needs the help of the National Guard.



(Peachy)"These are resources that we've been wanting for a long time, the ability to do this...is going to make a big difference for US."



Meanwhile at the Arkansas Army National Guard's camp in Playas, New Mexico the soldiers with the 39th Infantry Brigade are getting some much needed resources of their own. After days of waiting, the fuel and supplies necessary for Operation Jump Start arrives.



(Staff Sgt. Chris Tucker, Mena)"it means a lot to us. We're ready to get out and get this business started and hopefully the border patrol out and just do our best."



But it won't be easy.



(First Sgt. James Megoloff, Alma)"This is actually the worst terrain for any of the eit sites we're going to face."



Just getting to the sites will be grueling. First Sgt. James Megoloff estimates that it will take 2 hours for the soldiers' Humvees to make it to the border. The border is 20 miles southeast of the Guard's camp.



(Megoloff)"Then we have the team leaders and squad leaders doing their PCC's and PCI's, which are pre-combat checks to make sure the soldier has all of his equipment, so you're looking at about a 29 hour day for a soldier."



But the long shifts prove to make a difference. The greater the presence along the Border the fewer people try to cross.



(Peachy)"There's always a shift anytime that there's an action that we take from those that are coming in to the United States illegally and the smugglers especially."



And the guard will have hi-tech cameras, monitors, and infrared sensors to help them as they watch from their perches high above the desert floor. Sky boxes give Guardsmen the extra altitude they need to be able to spot illegals from miles away.



(Peachy)"You might want to brace yourself, because when you start going up, it rocks."



One Guardsman keeps a post inside the sky box about 30 feet in the air while another stays on the ground under the hot New Mexico sun maintaining communication Border Patrol.



With temperatures above 100 degrees agents say Guardsmen are doing more than discouraging illegal immigrants from coming in to the US. Their efforts keep people from dying as a result of exposure to the often brutal elements.



(Peachy)"The sooner we intercept these folks as they're crossing the border or prevent injury in the first place, that is by doing that we will prevent them from being injured or even death."



Of course the guard has to have a place to stay during Operation Jump Start. Thursday night on Nightside we will tour the real live ghost town that has been converted to barracks for our Arkansas soldiers.

Copyright 2006 katv, LLC





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