Tougher border tactics working! - Coverups.com

Feb. 2007

Don’t look now but all the stepped up efforts geared toward toughing up of our borders just might be paying off. A surprising front-page article by James McKinley Jr. in the Times is suggesting that tougher border security in the form of new barriers and more guards is actually reducing illegal immigration along the Mexican border. Below is summary of the article’s key points:

Less running for the border

New barriers to posting 6,000 National Guardsmen as armed sentinels are beginning to stem the flow of illegal immigrants.

In the last four months, the number (of migrants caught) has dropped 27 percent compared with the same period last year, the biggest drop since a crackdown immediately after 9/11. In two sections around Yuma and near Del Rio, Tex., the numbers have fallen by nearly two-thirds, Homeland Security officials say.

Border Patrol commanders say they see no explanation for the drop-off across the entire 2,000-mile border other than stiffer enforcement deterring migrants. The slackening flow, they argue, belies the conventional wisdom that it is impossible to stem illegal migration.

Veteran officers in the force are now beginning to believe it can be controlled with enough resources.

More officers, erecting stadium lights, secondary fences and barriers of thick steel poles to stop smugglers from racing across the desert in all-wheel-drive trucks are credited with the effective measures.

Hundreds of new guards have been added to watch rivers, monitor surveillance cameras and guard fences.

Federal government is punishing migrants with prison time from the first time they enter illegally in some areas.

Along the 210 miles of border covered by the Del Rio office of the Border Patrol, everyone caught crossing illegally is charged in federal court and, if convicted, sentenced to at least two weeks in prison.

Previously, most Mexican migrants were simply taken back to the border and let go.

Previously, people from Central American countries were given a court date and released on their own recognizance. Few ever showed up. Not any more.

Previously, a flood of immigrants from Central America was also overwhelming the border patrol in Del Rio and Eagle Pass, two small Texas towns on the Rio Grande. Not any more.

The migrants were taking advantage of a lack of detention space, which had led to the policy of giving them a hearing date and letting them remain in the country. Not anymore.

Previously, Central Americans would cross the river in droves in broad daylight, run up to Border Patrol agents and line up to be arrested, knowing they would be released and could then continue on their journey. Not anymore.

Previously, agents at the processing center were so busy feeding and fingerprinting migrants they had little time for patrolling. Not anymore.

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Tougher Tactics Deter Migrants at U.S. Border (registration required)

Our Take

It’s working… It’s working… It’s Working… Let me hear you sing!

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