US gets tough on Mexican border crossing
Hundreds of US patrol agents are to be sent to the Arizona border with Mexico in a major crackdown against illegal immigrants, it has emerged.
The move coincides with a civilian build-up in the area, where volunteer militia, called Minutemen, are heading down to monitor a 40-mile stretch.
Arizona’s 370-mile porous border with Mexico is considered the most susceptible to illegal immigration, not least from al-Qaida leaders, who intelligence suggests would favour the method over legal entry.
More than half of the 1.1 million illegal immigrants caught crossing the southern border last year were in Arizona.
The Homeland Security Department will beef up patrols by 25%, assigning more than 500 additional agents to the area over the coming year. Some 200 temporary agents will be dispatched immediately.
A US Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said the department was “determined to gain operational control” of the border.
The so-called Minutemen have billed their month-long project as a peaceful vigil to dramatise what they call insufficient patrol staffing.
They claim they will simply identify and follow illegal border-crossers and not interact with them. But there are fears some plan to arm themselves, despite little or no training.
President George Bush has condemned them as “vigilantes”, claiming the law should be enforced in a rational way.
A White House spokesman said “a group of armed, untrained individuals roaming around the desert” would be a concern.
“If you’re talking about people reporting suspicious activity, that’s one thing,” he said. “If you’re talking about people operating outside the law, that’s another matter and it’s one that cannot be allowed to happen.”
