OK I am not against immigration through proper channels at all, I am also not racist by any stretch of the imagination, but I think something needs to be done...something serious. When you read stories like this it would seem the US would get more aggresive about it's border enforcement.

Personally I say set up 50 cals on turrets and fire at will at anyone crossing regardless who they are and I bet it stems the problems right quick.


Both stories reported on FoxNews Yesterday:


Texas Officers Involved in Standoff at Border

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

SIERRA BLANCA, Texas — Men dressed as Mexican Army soldiers, apparent drug suspects and Texas law enforcement officers faced off on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, an FBI spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Andrea Simmons, an agency spokeswoman in El Paso, told The Associated Press that Texas Department of Public Safety troopers chased three SUVs, believing they were carrying drugs, to the banks of the Rio Grande during Monday's incident.

Men dressed in Mexican military uniforms or camouflage were on the U.S. side of the border in Texas, she said.

Simmons said the FBI was not involved and referred requests for further details to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin of Ontario, Calif., reported Tuesday that the incident included an armed standoff involving the Mexican military, suspected drug smugglers and nearly 30 U.S. law enforcement officers. It said Mexican military Humvees were towing what appeared to be thousands of pounds of marijuana across the border into the United States.

The incident follows a story in the Bulletin on Jan. 15 that said the Mexican military had crossed into the United States more than 200 times since 1996.

Chief Deputy Mike Doyal of the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department told the newspaper that Border Patrol agents called for backup and were joined by Hudspeth County deputies and DPS troopers. Mexican army personnel had several mounted machine guns on the ground more than 200 yards inside the U.S. border, the newspaper said.

Doyal said deputies captured a Cadillac Escalade that had been reported stolen from El Paso, and found 1,477 pounds of marijuana inside. He said Mexican soldiers set fire to one of the Humvees stuck in the river.

The site is near Neely's Crossing, about 50 miles east of El Paso, it said.

"It's been so bred into everyone not to start an international incident with Mexico that it's been going on for years," Doyal said. "When you're up against mounted machine guns, what can you do? Who wants to pull the trigger first? Certainly not us."

After the newspaper reported on Mexican military crossings, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the report was overblown and most of the incursions were just mistakes.

In eastern California, Arizona and New Mexico, the U.S.-Mexico border is largely unmarked. But in Texas, the Rio Grande separates the two countries and even when dry, is a riverbed about 200 feet wide.

In November, Doyal said Border Patrol agents in the border town of Fort Hancock called for help after confronting more than six men dressed in Mexican military uniforms. The men allegedly were trying to bring more than three tons of marijuana across the Rio Grande, Doyal told the newspaper.

Doyal said such incidents are common at Neely's Crossing.



Mexican Government to Hand Out Arizona Maps to Migrants
Tuesday, January 24, 2006


Anti-Immigration Groups Targeting Businesses
MEXICO CITY — A Mexican government commission said Tuesday it will distribute at least 70,000 maps showing highways, rescue beacons and water tanks in the Arizona desert to curb the death toll among illegal border crossers.

The National Human Rights Commission, a government-funded agency with independent powers, denied the maps — similar to a comic-style guide booklet Mexico distributed to migrants last year — would encourage illegal immigration.

Officials said the maps would help guide those in trouble find rescue beacons and areas with cell phone reception. The maps will also show the distance a person can walk in the desert in a single day.

"We are not trying in any way to encourage or promote migration," said Mauricio Farah, one of the commission's national inspectors. "The only thing we are trying to do is warn them of the risks they face and where to get water, so they don't die."

But some advocates of greater immigration control were irritated by the map announcement.

"What's next? Are they going to buy them bus tickets to Chicago?" said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based think tank. "It's clearly a bad thing for Mexico to be encouraging illegal immigration."


The comic booklet for migrants was distributed by the government in early 2005 and warned of the perils of crossing illegally into the United States, while offering tips to stay safe.

The booklet, of which about 1.5 million were printed, enraged some advocates of stricter immigration policies in the United States who argue that it encouraged illegal migration.

Farah said his commission was simply trying to prevent deaths and estimated that around 500 Mexicans died trying to cross the border in 2005. Many die in the desert, where summer temperatures soar above 100 degrees, and many drown while attempting to cross the Rio Grande river.

The commission plans to hang the poster-size maps in March in places where migrants will see them, such as migrant-aid groups, the commission's offices and in Mexican border towns.

They were designed by the Tucson, Ariz.-based rights group Humane Borders, which operates some of the desert water stations. The group previously distributed about 100 posters in the Mexican border town of Sasabe.

Rev. Robin Hoover, president of Humane Borders, said maps are needed in southern Mexico so migrants can weigh the risks before leaving home.

Some of the posters have warnings, such as "Don't go. There isn't enough water."

However, officials conceded many migrants were unlikely to heed the advice.

Farah said migration "is a human right" and that "the United States should be grateful" the commission is doing something to curb the death toll, because "hundreds of thousands of Mexicans help maintain their economy."

Mexicans working in the United States are a huge source of revenue for Mexico, sending home more than $16 billion in remittances in 2004, Mexico's second largest source of foreign currency after oil exports according to the country's central bank.

 

Nightshade, i didnt read this since i normally agree with u. if u come into this country then act like a u.s citizen and go through the channels to become one. like i did. im a naturalized american. they can just stay home if they cant behave. burns me up something fierce to see how the american people r taken advantage of by illegal immigrants (lots of freebies). our taxes pay for their healthcare, housing, lots of things and then they send their money back to mexico. they need to go thru the channels to become u.s. citizens or go back home, not pick what they like and dump the rest. they need to respect this country. learn to speak english and whatever else it takes to be a productive citizen that benefits this country. i see it alot in the hospital how the illegals take advantage of this country. just galls me. they need to be paying taxes, rents, insurances, whatever the rest of us have to do. go home, all of our jobs r going to mexico anyway. ill stop writing, illegals r a topic that really upsets me.

 

I agree with you...I've been saying put snipers every thousand yards with 50 cals for a couple years now...the border security is horrendous.

I'm all for immigration by the correct ways set up by the government....but against illegal immigration, and anything that supports it/them.

 

I know a lot of illegal imigrants. h: I also know a lot of their families. The whole "sure, you're free to live in America and work here, just get a visa" thing doesn't really work if they don't give out visas to the vast majority of people who want them. I'm not saying they should give out greencards and visas like candy, I'm just saying if I were dirt poor and saw how much my friends were making illegaly in America, I'd probably hop the border too. h:

 

Yep, I'm on the same wave length.

 

i always wanted to join border patrol

 

Non lethal rounds would be sweet. Killing people is too far.

 

Is it really?

Consider it from a national security standpoint. Any of these people coming across the border illegaly could be here to do harm, importing drugs (Mexican cops in this case), or otherwise are breaking our laws blatantly. This is a national security concern when you boil it all down.

War on drugs my ass....protecting our nation my ass...if you tie the hands that protect our border and show even a slight bit of leniency then people are going to walk all over you using your own rules to defend their actions.

 

According to our own laws, yes it is too extreme.

 

Then the laws on border guarding need to be modified because as they stand the laws currently in effect aint doing shit to protect us.