Thread: Zero Tolerance to Begin in Laredo, TX

It's zero-tolerance; Border Patrol expects dwindling arrests in ongoing plan

By JULIAN AGUILAR, LAREDO MORNING TIMES
10/20/2007
Email to a friendPost a CommentPrinter-friendlyA new zero-tolerance Border Patrol program to prosecute all undocumented immigrants, including those who violate immigration laws for the first time, will be initiated in Laredo as soon as next week, according to the Laredo Border Patrol Sector Headquarters."Under this program, all persons who illegally enter the U.S. in the Laredo Sector at locations designated for zero-tolerance … will be prosecuted in federal court … and processed for administrative removal," a statement from the office of Laredo Sector Chief Patrol Agent Carlos X. Carrillo stated.

The program reflects zero-tolerance programs in Del Rio and Yuma, Ariz., credited with decreasing the number of illegal entries while increasing the amount of drug seizures by Border Patrol agents.

"We're not calling it an operation," said Chuck Pritchard, a public affairs officer at the Laredo Border Patrol Sector. "This program will be daily business from here on out." Pritchard said details of the program will be revealed Friday at a news conference with Carrillo.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, and U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, are scheduled to attend the conference.

Pritchard would not comment on whether the Laredo initiative was a result of the federal government's decision to wait until 2009 to consider building a border fence in Laredo, saying instead that Carrillo would address the issues next week. Pritchard added that Laredo Border Patrol officials had been in contact with the U.S. Marshals' Laredo headquarters about the issue of jail space and said the U.S. Marshals office said that wouldn't be an issue.

U.S. Marshal Arthur Thomas in Laredo, however, did not comment about the program or the jail space, saying instead that his office was on standby and that he didn't want to "jump the gun" with any comments. Any questions, he said, would be answered by Carrillo next week.

Pritchard said the program would initially target areas considered "zero-tolerance" - where the Border Patrol is needed the most.

"We have 171 miles of border, what we've decided to do … (is) start in particular zones within the sector," he said. The program will then expand to the rest of the territory in the Laredo sector, he added.

According to the CBP Web site, Border Patrol joined with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Justice during the Del Rio initiative, and the CBP statement released Friday states that the Laredo project is a multi-agency partnership, too.

CBP statistics also indicate that apprehensions in Del Rio dropped 38 percent to 42,636 after the program's first year of operation in 2006. Other than Mexican (OTM) apprehensions also decreased by 61 percent.

The program is also credited with an increase in drug seizures along the Del Rio border. Pritchard said last fiscal year, Del Rio agents seized 53,106 pounds of marijuana, which CBP said was a 125-percent increase from 2005. By comparison, the Laredo sector agents seized 113,291 pounds of marijuana last fiscal year. If the program has similar success in Laredo, that number will increase.

(To reach Julian Aguilar, call 728-2557, or e-mail jaguilar@lmtonline.com)

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?news ... 9392&rfi=6

Wasn't it Camillo who recently caused the uproar by stating that the mission of the BP in his sector is NOT to stop illegals and smugglers?

Didn't he then try to say he had been <ahem> misunderstood?

Why the sudden, and well publicized, 'zero tolerance" in the Laredo sector, I wonder? A little bit of backlash across his backside perhaps?

Being a skeptic when it comes to Homeland Security and their enforcement claims I don't believe they will truely do anything significant.

If they are willing to stand before a make believe press briefing and give a report with a straight face what else are they lying about..........

Is there anyway to verify that this is really happening?