Troops Reduce Illegal Border Crossings
By California Yankee Posted in Breaking News — Comments (14) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Deployment of National Guard troops along the Mexican border has scared off illegal Mexican migrants, reducing illegal border crossings:
U.S. authorities said Monday that detentions along the U.S.-Mexico border decreased by 21%, to 26,994, in the first 10 days of June, compared with 34,077 for the same period a year ago.
Along the Arizona border, once the busiest crossing spot, detentions have dropped 23%, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.
Detentions dropped 31%, to 8,308 from 11,977, along the Texas and New Mexico border.
This is a good sign, but we will have to wait and see if the trend continues. It's a shame such a serious effort to control the border wasn't tried years ago.
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As one might expect The Guardian managed to "discover" an explanation
Francisco Loureiro, who runs a migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, across the border from Arizona, said migrants are afraid of the U.S. troops after hearing reports of abuse in Iraq."Some migrants have told me they heard about the troops on television and, because the U.S. Army doesn't have a very good reputation, they prefer not to cross," Loureiro said ...
Emphasis Added - John
I knew we could count on The Guardian to ferret out the real reason.
The current price for Magna-sin (unleaded regular) gasoline in Mexico is 6.58 Pesos per liter (June 1, 2006). This works out to $2.22 US per US Gallon... [source]
They should also watch out for bands of angry Menopausal American Grandmothers, who are roving the desert scrub carrying varying brands of Forever-Sharp knives that were purchased while watching endlessly repeating infomercials. They've been waiting to slice and dice for a long time, and now mother nature has given them the perfect excuse... hot flashes.
That was before Bush got the brilliant idea to use them to supplement the administrative work of the Border Patrol.
That 1 good thing may have come out of Abu Grhaib (sp) and so forth. The Media may just have had all their good work backfire on them in this case...
Great, only 26,000 in the first 10 days of June. Looks like we'll need a few more border agents and national guardsmen to deal with these numbers.
Is that since we no longer have a catch/release policy, all these people are headed out someplace else. I don't know what our policy is now, but we used to fly Mexicans back to Mexico City, which is a LONG way from the border.
A reduction of illegals caught attempting to violate the border is not necessarily indicating a reduction in attempts. There is no guarantee that the % caught has remained constant.
It could easily be indicating just a reduction in
# of those caught.
Maybe a result of tighter "coordination" between the Mexican government and Border Patrol allowing the Mexican government to direct the BP away from the illegal's expected entry path. Maybe "just" knowing the patrol routes for the BP and passing those routes on to the coyotes to make intercepts less likely.
Maybe just the "ICE Princess" redirecting efforts away from enforcement and towards housekeeping to get ready "for the company" (National Guard units) that are arriving.
There is yet no credible claims that the reason that the #s of illegals temporarily intercepted indicate a reduction in #s of illegal attemps to violate our borders.
When I read this story on Drudge, it looked suspiciously like a government issued press release. With a budget that will amount to 10 billion bucks, expect a lot of press releases from the Guard and the Border Patrol about how great they are doing. The photo ops will start soon.
This is just a P.R. gimmick designed to make the Bush Administration look tough, but not a serious attempt to secure the borders.
It is totally meaningless to compare.
Its like saying that a ballplayer who is hitting .425 after the first week of the season is going to win the batting crown.
The border has PHOTO OP written all over it. I don't think the president cares about this issue (and I agree with him), but get ready for the stories.
"The 55 Utah soldiers who arrived June 3 are the first of some 6,000 troops to be dispatched along the border as part of President Bush's plan to stem illegal immigration to the United States."
Put three zero's behind 55 and we might see something real. This could simply reflect a hotter summer or cooked Border Patrol stats, something not uncommon since "comprehensive immigration reform" got on the Endangered Species List.