From Homeland Security NewsWire:
Border securityPinal County U.S. No. 1 pass-through county for drugs, human smuggling
Published 18 April 2011
Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County, Arizona says his county was the number one pass through county in the nation for drug and human smuggling; the amount of marijuana seized in Pinal County has increased from 19,619 pounds in 2008 to more than 45,000 pounds seized last year; "We need help out in Arizona. On anybody's scorecard, if the majority of people [illegal immigrants] are getting through, that is a failing grade. Period," Sheriff Paul Babeu the sheriff called for implementing in Pinal County the system now in place in the Yuma sector, where 96 percent of those attempting to cross illegally are captured
Sheriff Babeu with captured contraband // Source: antzinpantz.com
In a testimony before Cobgress last week, Pinal County, Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu claimed Pinal County was the number one pass through county in the nation for drug and human smuggling.
To back his claims Babeu stated that the amount of marijuana seized in Pinal County has increased from 19,619 pounds in 2008 to more than 45,000 pounds seized last year. Other increases he noted included vehicle pursuits increasing from 142 in 2007 to 340 in 2010 and illegal aliens seized increasing from 188 in 2007 to 370 in 2010. “This violence is not just coming here. It is here,” he said. “People in my county do not feel the border is more secure than ever, and we are 70 miles north.”
In Maricopa.com reports that Babeu added that in the Tucson sector last year alone the Border Patrol captured 219,300 people trying to cross the border and estimated that for every one captured another 2.7 made it across without capture.
“One out of six people crossing the Tucson sector are doing so illegally,” Babeu said.”While many of these people are searching for a better life, 17 percent already have a criminal record in the U.S.”
“We need help out in Arizona. On anybody’s scorecard, if the majority of people [illegal immigrants] are getting through, that is a failing grade. Period.” Babeu added.
Babeu also backed up controversial claims first made by Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever of lax apprehensions by the Border Patrol
Dever told FoxNews.com that a supervisor with the U.S. Border Patrol told him as recently as Apr. that the federal agency’s office on Arizona’s southern border was under orders to keep apprehension numbers down during specific reporting times.
“He said, ‘I had to go back to my guys and tell them not to catch anybody, that their job is to chase people away,” Dever said. “They were not to catch anyone, arrest anyone. Their job was to set up posture, to intimidate people, to get them to go back.”
Gold Canyon Today reports that since Dever’s statements, Chief Michael Fisher of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has vehemently denied his claims of intentionally reduced apprehensions, calling them “100 percent false.”
To address the issue Babeu said that it was imperative the U.S. government implement the Senator McCain/Kyl 10-Point Border Security Plan.
The plan is based on the success of border enforcement in the Yuma sector, where 96 percent of those attempting to cross illegally are captured.
Border securityPinal County U.S. No. 1 pass-through county for drugs, human smuggling
Published 18 April 2011
Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County, Arizona says his county was the number one pass through county in the nation for drug and human smuggling; the amount of marijuana seized in Pinal County has increased from 19,619 pounds in 2008 to more than 45,000 pounds seized last year; "We need help out in Arizona. On anybody's scorecard, if the majority of people [illegal immigrants] are getting through, that is a failing grade. Period," Sheriff Paul Babeu the sheriff called for implementing in Pinal County the system now in place in the Yuma sector, where 96 percent of those attempting to cross illegally are captured
Sheriff Babeu with captured contraband // Source: antzinpantz.com
In a testimony before Cobgress last week, Pinal County, Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu claimed Pinal County was the number one pass through county in the nation for drug and human smuggling.
To back his claims Babeu stated that the amount of marijuana seized in Pinal County has increased from 19,619 pounds in 2008 to more than 45,000 pounds seized last year. Other increases he noted included vehicle pursuits increasing from 142 in 2007 to 340 in 2010 and illegal aliens seized increasing from 188 in 2007 to 370 in 2010. “This violence is not just coming here. It is here,” he said. “People in my county do not feel the border is more secure than ever, and we are 70 miles north.”
In Maricopa.com reports that Babeu added that in the Tucson sector last year alone the Border Patrol captured 219,300 people trying to cross the border and estimated that for every one captured another 2.7 made it across without capture.
“One out of six people crossing the Tucson sector are doing so illegally,” Babeu said.”While many of these people are searching for a better life, 17 percent already have a criminal record in the U.S.”
“We need help out in Arizona. On anybody’s scorecard, if the majority of people [illegal immigrants] are getting through, that is a failing grade. Period.” Babeu added.
Babeu also backed up controversial claims first made by Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever of lax apprehensions by the Border Patrol
Dever told FoxNews.com that a supervisor with the U.S. Border Patrol told him as recently as Apr. that the federal agency’s office on Arizona’s southern border was under orders to keep apprehension numbers down during specific reporting times.
“He said, ‘I had to go back to my guys and tell them not to catch anybody, that their job is to chase people away,” Dever said. “They were not to catch anyone, arrest anyone. Their job was to set up posture, to intimidate people, to get them to go back.”
Gold Canyon Today reports that since Dever’s statements, Chief Michael Fisher of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has vehemently denied his claims of intentionally reduced apprehensions, calling them “100 percent false.”
To address the issue Babeu said that it was imperative the U.S. government implement the Senator McCain/Kyl 10-Point Border Security Plan.
The plan is based on the success of border enforcement in the Yuma sector, where 96 percent of those attempting to cross illegally are captured.
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