Thread: Border Issues Reported in the NY Times!

Amazing. The New York Times, "the Newspaper of record," actually published an article about illegal immigration and border chaos...


Citing Violence, 2 Border States Declare a Crisis
David Bowser for The New York Times


By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
Published: August 17, 2005

DEMING, N.M., Aug. 16 - Citing a surge of smuggling and violence along the border, the governors of Arizona and New Mexico have issued state of emergency declarations in recent days, faulting the American and Mexican authorities and freeing up federal and state money to strengthen local law enforcement efforts.
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Top, Ron Edmonds/Associated Press; bottom, Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico say the federal authorities are failing at border security.

"Both federal governments let us down - there doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency," Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona, a Democrat seeking re-election next year, said in a telephone interview Tuesday, a day after declaring a state of emergency in four border counties. Ms. Napolitano said that "ranchers are at their wits' end" with smuggled immigrants who damage their property and livestock.

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a Democrat who is also seeking re-election and who may make a bid for the White House in 2008, issued an emergency declaration on Friday, after touring this turbulent border region where a police chief reported being shot at last week.

"This is an act of desperation," Mr. Richardson said in a separate phone interview, adding that border problems had gone beyond illegal immigration to violent crime. He said the action would provide resources "until Congress and the feds deal with this issue," but added, "it is not a political move - I never mentioned the Bush administration."

The actions by the two states followed a series of violent episodes, including the killing of a New Mexico woman who was shot in the head by a Mexican police officer outside Ciudad Juárez on July 30 and the crash of a Hummer, which was trying to outrun Border Patrol agents, that killed four illegal immigrants in March. Chief Clare May of the three-member police department in Columbus, N.M., said that on Aug. 9, two bullets whizzed over his head while he was checking out abandoned cars.

Arizona remains the busiest illegal gateway along the Southwest border, and scores of illegal immigrants are found dead of exposure in its deserts each year.

The two governors said their actions would make available $1.75 million in New Mexico and $1.5 million in Arizona for extra sheriff's deputies and other officers, and for overtime costs and more equipment. No federal approval is required.

Luis Barker, deputy chief of the Border Patrol, interviewed by phone during a visit to El Paso on Tuesday, said of the states' actions, "I don't think it should be taken as criticism." Mr. Barker said that federal agents were working closely with their state counterparts and that arrests were down in Arizona, signifying successes. "If there is coordination," he said, "I would think it would be very helpful."

In Mexico on Tuesday, President Vicente Fox, visiting the state of Sonora across the border from Arizona, urged United States officials to do more than sound alarms about the crime plaguing both sides of the border and to work with Mexican authorities on solutions. Mr. Fox called the crime problem a "shared responsibility for both governments."

"Instead of each of us working on our own sides," he said, "we must work together. That's the only way to win."

"There is organized crime here," Mr. Fox said, "and there is organized crime there. On this side and that side, there is drug consumption. The only solution is to work together."

Gerónimo Gutiérrez, an under secretary in the Foreign Ministry, was meeting with Bush administration officials in Washington and reiterating Mexico's commitment to a "safe and prosperous border."

"There's a real perception in the United States about internal security," Mr. Gutiérrez said. "But people here are also underestimating what both federal governments are doing to fight crime on the border.

Mr. Richardson said that he was "acting out of frustration" but that his emergency declaration should not be taken as criticism of the Border Patrol. "I'm criticizing the entire federal structure on immigration," he said. "The Border Patrol is doing a good job."

Mr. Barker, of the Border Patrol, said the agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, had added 305 agents since last October to its 12 stations from West Texas and El Paso to the Arizona border, bringing the force there to 1,226. "It's a work in progress," he said.

Allen Weh, chairman of the New Mexico Republican Party, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday that the party commended Mr. Richardson "for coming around to the concerns we've had for a long time."

But Mr. Weh, a retired colonel who served in Iraq and Vietnam, said, "Of course there's political motives in the governor's actions." He said Mr. Richardson was concerned with trying to hold onto his traditional Democratic base "and position himself in the center."

Mr. Richardson said he was motivated solely by concerns for public safety. He said he was not worried about alienating Hispanics, one of his prime constituencies. "I have the most migrant-friendly state," he said, citing a policy of issuing driver's licenses without regard to immigration status.

As for an eye on the White House, he said: "I am running for re-election as governor of New Mexico. I have enough problems."

In Arizona, Republicans also suggested that Ms. Napolitano's motives might be political.

"The governor clearly is very good at reading polls," State Representative Russell Pearce said, according to The Arizona Republic. "It's a start, but much more has to be done."

In July, Ms. Napolitano organized a meeting of about 100 law enforcement supervisors to discuss border smuggling and violence. Last week she wrote to Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, saying she was "increasingly disappointed by red tape" at the department.

Ms. Napolitano said she had seen no improvement in border security. "I will do anything I have to to get Washington's attention to this matter," she said.

In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican running for re-election next year, was not currently considering a state of emergency, said a spokesman, Robert Black. "The governor has said that we'll continue to make the case that there can be no homeland security without border security, and the federal government needs to make a greater commitment both in resources and manpower along the Texas-Mexico border."

But Mr. Black said nothing had been ruled out.

Ginger Thompson contributed reporting from Mexico City for this article.

Before I start e-mailing this morning I had to read this. I just can't believe that two states had to declare a state of emergency because of the lack of responsibility on behalf of Congress and the President. It's unbelievable.

Also, these Republicans who call it politically motivated....how would they feel if they had those two bullets fly past their heads, like the Sherriif had happen. They might then call it a real state of emergency.