Report: Beefing up security at U.S.-Mexico border would yield diminishing returns

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
4/20/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Experts cite 'severe humanitarian toll on migrants,' which are mounting

A recent study on drug trafficking and illegal immigration says that while the problems posed by illegal border passage along the U.S.-Mexico border are very real, attempts to bolster efforts - such as increasing the ranks of the Border Patrol, would have diminishing returns.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - In a collaboration of the Washington Office on Latin America, or WOLA and Mexico's College of the Northern Border or COLEF, says that additional steps are needed, a more forceful effort would actually hurt, particularly at a time of record federal deficits.

"In fact, a closer look at the border reveals that after a historic build-up of the U.S. security presence there, further increases in money, barriers and manpower are unnecessary," the report entitled "Beyond the Border Buildup." Says. The report calls for the U.S. to reassess its border strategies and invest more in the Office of Field Operations, which remains an understaffed and overworked agency manning the country's ports of entry.

"The threats that actually exist don't justify them, and the side effects - among them a severe humanitarian toll on migrants - are mounting," the report said. "It is urgent that Washington view the border security buildup as a past policy, not a direction for the present or future."

Both the U.S. and Mexico are engaged in presidential elections in which border and migration issues are expected to play an important role.

Republican presidential candidates, with the exception of Texas Rep. Ron Paul have all supported stronger measures to better "control the border." Among the methods discussed are increasing the number of Border Patrol agents and completing construction of a fence along the entire frontier.

Fewer than 4,000 Border Patrol personnel were deployed to the southwestern border 20 years ago. That number has more than quadrupled since, exceeding 18,000 in 2011.

The Pentagon has since become increasingly involved in enforcement, deploying troops to back up the Border Patrol, build roads, and collect intelligence, such as flying reconnaissance drones on both sides of the border.

Hundreds of armed National Guard troops from states across the country have also been deployed at any one time since 2006. These troops are primarily for ground and air surveillance, although their numbers and the budget to support their deployment have recently been reduced.

Increased security have grown apace after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon and has been fuelled by dire claims by prominent politicians and the media about the alleged threats of massive illegal immigration, drug trafficking, violence and terrorism crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.

According to Adam Isacson, WOLA's senior associate for regional security and one of the report's lead authors Of those four threats, "three have either never materialized or been reduced."

While drug seizures have indeed increased markedly in recent years, the government has yet to report a single case of a terrorist crossing the border, Isacson says.

According to the report, the decline can be attributed to several things: among them, the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on the availability of jobs for migrants in the U.S. and increased risks faced by migrants travelling through Mexico to the U.S.

A version of this story was first published by Inter Press Service news agency.

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: U.S., Mexico, border, drug trafficking, illegal immigrants

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1 - 3 of 3 Comments

Bulbajer
1 year ago
Robert Burford, I completely agree.
Robert Burford
1 year ago
Closing our borders will not stop terrorists. Immigration is not the problem with our country. The poor who do come to this country do work that we as a country are not willing to do. We treat these immigrants as slaves and then send them home. It is vary telling that when the ecomomy went south the flow of illegals stopped.?? The reason we need more border patrol is illegal drugs. Of course if we as a society did not use these drugs there would be no market and the murderest cartels would have to resort to other illegal activities.We would save much more help so many more people and solve so many problems. The date 9/11/2001 changed our priorities but the logic for solving them was false. Islam and its false theories of what God wants is the reason we have terrorists. We need to fight for truth and pray for justice. Why are we afraid of terrorists? Jesus told us that we would be attacked. We want to set things and say that is fixed and it doesn't have to be changed, but every day we are faced with new struggles. Those attacks and struggles will be with us and many generations to come. We can fight them by obeyings His Commandments and treat people as Jesus would have us treat them. That does not mean to role over and die when a terrorist waves a sword, but it does mean that however cruel they are that they will not win because the battle was won by Jesus< Our Lord
Dave Francis
1 year ago
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND POPULATION GROWTH

It is Forty years after a multi-year bi-partisan government commission recommended slowing U.S. population growth and eventually stabilizing it. Americans still would like to see it happen, according to poll results to be released this weekend at the 2012 Earth Day Dallas festival. In the past three decades we have had a population explosion, caused by the arrival of millions of 40 percent of illegal aliens by overstaying expired temporary visas and even as many numbers crossing our sovereign border without permission. The misgivings shown by Americans today are similar to what Americans indicated in a national poll by “The Commission on Population Growth and the American Future,” which was created just before the first Earth Day (1970) and issued its closing report in spring of 1972.

Leaders from labor, business, civil rights and environmental activists, religion and academic contributed to the report. In 1972 a poll found 57% of Americans believed U.S. population growth was environmentally harmful, with 66% disapproved of adding another 100 million people, 56% said government should try to do something to slow down population growth, 57% said people should limit the size of their families even though they can afford a large number of children and 50% said the number of immigrants should be reduced, with only 3% saying the numbers should increase.

The Census data show that our population would be stabilizing at around 250 million if the American people had controlled things, given that their average family size has been at a zero-population-growth level ever since 1972,”

The new poll found only 10% of U.S. voters approve the current rate of growth that the Census Bureau states will double U.S. population from 313 million today to over 600 million by the end of the century. Of course not too many people believe the official number of 11.million foreigners who have illegally settled here. Very few organizations trust this numbers and think a more logic figure would be around 20 million and up.

In today's polls 68% of voters said immigration should be reduced in order to slow U.S. population growth; 19% prefer to keep immigration the same and let it double the U.S. population; 4% prefer increasing immigration so that population would more than double this century. Even Hispanic voters and other minority were similar to all other voters in their opposition to high population growth and in preference for a stabilizing population size.

Illegal Immigrants who are constantly pouring across our borders and entering America as international tourists are adding to this population growth. Because of this uncontrolled travesty, our energy supplies are under constant strain as is our health care system, public education and a the erosion of our once admired freeways and highways. Underground our sewer systems, is crumbling, with some pipelines over 50 years old. 30 years of indifferent administrations have allowed this incompetency to flourish and now our grandchildren are facing a 16 Trillion dollar deficit. Unquestionably we need an ultra strong Congress, which must dismiss incumbents that are not doing their job. Not just the do-nothing law makers in Washington, but hard core leftists, Democrats, Republicans and the state Governors, Mayors, and all those involved in pampering illegal aliens at the state, county and local elected officials. These people who are filling their pockets with campaign contributions are sole to blame and ignorance for the Sanctuary City ordinances, the Chain Migration adding to even larger population and other regulations such as making the public pay for Dream Act children and any new secret visa’s for people, that is really just another Comprehensive Immigration Reform known as Amnesty.

As for the controversial issue of the ‘DREAM ACT’ for granting a quick passage of illegal alien’s children will not be Fair? Thousands of people wait patiently for years, sometimes as much as 10 years to receive an entry visa.

One of the greatest menaces to our immigration laws is the ‘unfunded mandates’ forced on every taxpayer by the U.S. courts. All 50 states are held accountable to pay for the large populations of illegal aliens, where taxes are taken to pay for their medical health, children’s schooling and under the birthright citizen law, allocating food stamps, low income housing and numerous other benefits that citizens are denied. Many welfare programs have been crippled because of females who arrive here illegally by any means, with an unborn child can apply for natal care and other subsidies. The fact that our borders are still not secured, that women are able to enter here pregnant, in the years that followed we have children of illegal aliens smothering our public schools. In 20 years the populace of foreigners coming here are directly affecting any chance of slowing population growth through each prior and post administration are responsible for not enforcing immigration laws and not the absconder from their own country? And still over a million new imported legal immigrants are allowed to come here. What are these so called legislators thinking, when they are cutting off welfare for U.S. born American or resident aliens?

The U.S. public are generous and passionate and the biggest philanthropist in the world. But we cannot continue to fight distant wars and take in every desperate pauper from any corner of the world. We must stop printing money and make a giant effort to remove illegal aliens by ATTRITION BY ENFORCEMENT.

This America is the land of opportunity, but only if you come here with permission and a work visa. For farmers and agricultural communities, there must be a well regulated system of arrival and departure, not the mess provided now. In furtherance special visas should be expedited for top professionals in Science, Engineering and a whole range of high technology, given us the brain power for a futuristic U.S, but we must spend the money to check on females who are carrying an unborn infant, with new detection systems at entry ports, as 400.000 arrivals are ready to conceive annually and apply for welfare. Just calculate the uncompensated cost to hospitals that have to pay for this delivery? By the Congress just amending the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 (H.R.140) the country could discontinue this billion dollar soaking of individual states?

Then just as viable and with a high success rate is the introduction of Verify (H.R. 2885) – Chairman Lamar Smith's 'Legal Workforce Act'. Every worker hired would be eligible, if they are not flagged by the employers hook-up to the Social Security and Homeland Security databases. Those declined can fortunately travel to the SSA to get clearance for their new job. Foreign illegal workers would not go to any government agency anyway. Marco Rubio may be providing a less tough immigration enforcement ideology to Romney, but it could mean a loss of votes? Mitt Romney already stated that unauthorized workers would “self Deport” when employment cannot be located. Businesses owners and management that don’t follow the law could lose business licenses, profits, be fined and even end in a prison cell.

The best hope with have is to elect TEA PARTY leaders who have a different approach to every issue, who believe in the free competitive business enterprise, self reliance on our own abundance of oil, natural gas and clean coal. Huge deposits await us that are so plentiful, we can supply it to Europe and other friendly countries.

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