EFL
Fort Huachuca, a 150-square-mile U.S. Army base in Arizona just 20 miles north of the Mexican border, has become a popular corridor for illegal migrants headed to America. Law-enforcement authorities and congressional investigators said the illegals — some in groups of up to 60 — routinely wander through base housing units, drink from hoses and pools, and trample through the yards of military families and other private areas en route to nearby highways, where they catch northbound rides. Officially, 3,086 illegal aliens were detained by U.S. Army personnel on the base last year and turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol. Illegal immigration has been described by base officials as "a problem."
But a report written for the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus as part of an assessment of the Minuteman Project in Arizona last month called Fort Huachuca "surprisingly ... disturbingly, the most undermanned federal entity in the area in terms of being able to adequately meet the threat waves of illegal immigrants." Perhaps the border patrol assumes the Army should be able to properly guard its own installation? | If they are like the bases around here, the gates are mostly guarded by civilian contract guards. SP/MP forces have been cut way back, I'll wager most are deployed overseas. |
Fort Huachuca spokeswoman Tanja Linton said base security is a top priority, noting that military personnel constantly patrol the perimeter of the sprawling facility to guard against intrusions. She said 201 illegal aliens were detained on the base last month during the Minuteman border vigil and 513 in March. | It's a huge base, most likely they have a few roving patrols covering the likely entry points. |
Fort Huachuca lies near the Coronado National Forest and Coronado Memorial National Park, major routes for illegal aliens looking to catch rides from smugglers along State Highway 90 — which runs north and south along the east side of the base. Illegal aliens cross over the base to make connections that will take them 35 miles north to Interstate 10 — a major cross-country east-west highway.
Noting that Fort Huachuca is located in the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, which accounted for more than 40 percent of the 1.15 million aliens apprehended last year, Ms. Linton called the Fort Huachuca detentions "a drop in the bucket." In addition to having the nation's premier military intelligence school, Fort Huachuca hosts several other key military training commands and units from the Homeland Security Department. |