Published: 04.27.2007
Tucson sector chief reaching out to all border groups
CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Tucson Citizen
Robert Gilbert remembers a time when U.S. Border Patrol agents could drive only as far as their daily allotment of gasoline lasted.
"We were asked to do a phenomenal job with very little resources back in the '80s," said Gilbert, a 22-year veteran of the agency.
Gilbert, 45, takes over the job of leading the agency's busiest sector at a very different time, when the government has committed unprecedented increases in technology and personnel in its quest to control the Southwest border.
Today, Gilbert, who became the Tucson sector chief last month, oversees nearly 3,000 agents who patrol the sector's 262 miles of border with Mexico. Back in 1985, when Gilbert started, there were barely 3,000 agents patrolling the entire country.
"The border had been neglected for decades," he said.
The agency currently has more than 12,000 agents, and is expected to reach 18,000 by 2008. The push comes as part of the Secure Border Initiative, a $2 billion package that calls for more infrastructure, agents, and high- tech fencing and sensors that could help the agency control the border, Gilbert said.
"We've never received the type of support we're getting now," he said.
Since assuming his role, Gilbert has declared an "open door" policy for those who are concerned about border security and human rights issues. His office sent out invitations for a meeting with area immigrant-rights organizations and said he will do the same for civilian patrol groups.
Fundamentally, he said he believes the groups want the same thing as the Border Patrol: a safe and secure border.
"It will be safer for individuals that continue to try to cross," he said. "And it will be safer for residents and ranchers that live and work in that community, and it will be more secure."
Gilbert began his career in San Diego and became the El Paso sector chief in 2006, where he took over soon after a controversial, agent-involved shooting in which two agents were convicted of shooting an unarmed drug smuggler and attempting to cover up their actions.
He is now facing a similar controversy.
On Monday, the Cochise County Attorney's Office charged Naco-based Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett, 39, with the January murder of Francisco Javier Dominguez-Rivera, 22, an illegal immigrant from Puebla, Mexico.
Gilbert, who condemned the El Paso agents, said the cases are very different.
"The incident in El Paso was an ugly day for the Border Patrol," he said. The El Paso agents tried to cover up their actions, whereas the Cochise County incident was immediately reported and investigated.
Corbett was placed Tuesday on administrative duties and no longer carries a gun, Gilbert said.
Gilbert joined the Border Patrol when he 23 to follow in the footsteps of his father, also a Border Patrol agent.
"He was a great role model," Gilbert said. "I've always wanted to do this, my whole life."
Gilbert's roots in Arizona stretch back to his great grandfather, who served as the Yavapai County Sheriff. His parents were both from Arizona, and he spent time working on cattle ranch near Casa Grande before he joined the Border Patrol, but he largely grew up in Deming, N.M.
There, he learned to speak Spanish from Hispanic classmates and their families. He studied more Spanish at the Border Patrol academy in 1985, and practices Spanish at home. His wife, Lea, an immigrant from Peru, speaks Spanish to their two children Sofia, 27 months, and Matthew, 11 months.
"We'd like them to be bilingual," Gilbert said.
Echoing what has become a common refrain among Border Patrol officials, Gilbert said 90 percent of people crossing the border are "economic" migrants seeking to improve their lives. The other 10 percent are a criminal element, possible terrorists, or someone wishing to do the country harm, he said.
"If there is somehow a way to remove that 90 percent so we can focus on the 10 percent, we're going to be better at serving the American people,'' he said.
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