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| Border Patrol: Border mission with troops a success |
| 2005-11-17 |
| COLUMBUS, N.M. -- The Border Patrol says a monthlong mission with troops from Fort Lewis, Wash., doing round-the-clock reconnaissance along the border was a success in helping deter people coming into the country illegally from Mexico. The presence of the soldiers helped turn back about 1,000 would-be border crossers and moved others away from the mission's patrol area between Columbus and Hachita, Rick Moody, agent in charge of the Border Patrol's Deming station, said Tuesday. The mission began in mid-October and is ending this week. Hundreds of soldiers from the Army's 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment from Fort Lewis helped catch 1,922 people who crossed the border illegally and seized more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana, Moody said. The soldiers, using Stryker vehicles equipped with long-range surveillance equipment, find people crossing the desert, then direct Border Patrol agents by radio to the location. Soldiers are not involved in pursuits, apprehensions, detentions or arrests, said Lt. Col. Jeff Peterson, the squadron commander. "Our sole purpose is to observe and report," Peterson said. The military's surveillance equipment can spot people at a distance of more than 10 miles, much farther than the Border Patrol's cameras along the border near Columbus. The military mission acted as a "force multiplier" for the Border Patrol, Moody said. "It frees resources in the field to go out and make apprehensions," he said. Moody said captures of immigrants are up 120 percent in the Deming sector compared to the corresponding period last year. Overall, apprehensions at the Deming station account for 46 percent of all immigrants caught in the agency's El Paso, Texas, sector, which includes West Texas and all of New Mexico. Border Patrol agents in the Deming sector have captured 7,128 illegal immigrants since the start of the federal fiscal year Oct. 1, Moody said. Ranchers who had Stryker units on their leased land gave the mission mixed reviews. "The military troops are greatly appreciated, but from our observations, I did not see the (immigration) activity slow down one bit. The traffic going across our ranch has continued," said Joe Johnson, whose family operates a 100,000-acre ranch west of Columbus. However, Murray Keeler, owner of the 25,600-acre Flying W Ranch west of Hachita, said immigrant traffic went down dramatically when the troops arrived. His wife, in appreciation, took chicken and dumplings one night and hamburgers another night to troops stationed near the ranch. "I hate to see them leave," Keeler said. As do I. Seems like a decent place to train for desert survellence. pre-position hardware and rotate troops in monthly. A no-brainer. |
| Posted by:anymouse |
| #2 "The military troops are greatly appreciated, but from our observations, I did not see the (immigration) activity slow down one bit. The traffic going across our ranch has continued. It's been ONE month--let them keep it up for a year. The word will get around and the traffic will decrease (sadly, it will most likely be diverted elsewhere where the military is not helping out, but it's a start). |
| Posted by: Dar 2005-11-17 13:06 |
| #1 "Our sole purpose is to observe and report," Peterson said. Sounds suspiciously like what the Minutemen were doing, except that no one in their right mind would dare call these guys "vigilantes". |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-11-17 11:15 |