[Vision2020] A Different Desert Duty

[Tom Hansen]

>From the September 4, 2006 edition of the Army Times -

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A different desert duty
Guardsmen thwart illegal immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border

By Michelle Tan
Staff writer

NOGALES, Ariz. - Immigration is hard to ignore down here.

For many residents, Mexico lies almost in their backyards.

Shoppers cross into the U.S. from Mexico in a steady stream looking for
deals on shoes, clothes and toys. Lines at the vehicle checkpoints are long
and slow.

And all day and night, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol
agents in green uniforms chase illegal crossers through thick brush and
unforgiving terrain.

"We've been dealing with this since 1924," said Gustavo Soto, a supervisory
Border Patrol agent who's been on the job 10 years.

The difference now is about 6,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen are
scattered along the U.S.-Mexico border to help.

Just like in other border towns, teams of four guardsmen dot the hills here,
scanning the mountains and valleys for illegal activity. The soldiers and
airmen, armed with rifles and binoculars and clad in body armor, alert
Border Patrol agents to what they see, and the hunt begins.

"Living here in Arizona, you see a lot of migrants coming across," said Sgt.
1st Class Anthony Newlin, of the 258th Engineer Company in Phoenix. "These
people will save money all their lives for one chance on that border run."

Newlin is the noncommissioned officer in charge of a road construction
project conducted by the 258th's Detachment 1. The road runs parallel to the
fence that separates the two countries near downtown Nogales. The 258th's
two-week annual training mission is to build the road; construction was
underway on a hot afternoon in late August.

In May, President Bush announced an initiative to send up to 6,000 National
Guard members to the southwest border for two years. 

Some soldiers serving along the border said they were surprised at the
number of people who try to jump the fence into the U.S.

"CNN and all the major media keep reporting that it's not a big deal and it
doesn't happen in our backyard," said Capt. Brian Watson of the 116th
Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Staunton, Va. "I got down here and realized
it's a major problem."

Watson is in charge of the Virginia Guard's entry identification teams in
Tucson and Ajo.

"We've effectively shut down this valley to any major foot traffic and
vehicle traffic," he said. "As for the people who're trying to make a better
life for themselves, I can understand that, but they're starting their life
here with a commission of a crime."

Watson said his time in Arizona has erased his indifference to illegal
immigration. 

"Now, I think there needs to be more national attention to this," he said.

Spc. Ross Booth of the 29th Infantry Division in Richmond, Va., said he's
amazed that so many people will risk their lives to live in America.

"They're that desperate," he said. "They have nothing left that they're
willing to risk it. I can't blame them, but they need to go through the
proper channels."

Booth mans an entry identification team in Sasabe, a small, remote town west
of Nogales. The area is so desolate that Booth and his teammates have to
hike a quarter-mile up a steep hill to get to their post.

Pfc. Aram Christopher of the 183rd Cavalry in Norfolk, Va., mans a more
central entry identification site at the edge of downtown Nogales.

"I'm very surprised at the number of crossers, especially in broad
daylight," he said. "If it really was that bad out there, I'd probably do
the same thing and jump in broad daylight, but I'm not in their situation,
so I don't know."

The soldiers on duty in Arizona expressed appreciation for the area's Border
Patrol agents. Agents have even provided some of Watson's soldiers with
thermal sights and radios.

"We're making their job easier, so it's in their best interest to make our
job easier, and they've done that in spades," Watson said.

The Border Patrol returned the compliment.

"The National Guard has proven to be more than what we expected," Soto said.
"They routinely spot illegal aliens [and] since the Guard first deployed
here, we've seen incremental drops in entries."

Illegal immigration may not be a new issue, but it remains a difficult
issue, Soto said.

"We must know who's coming into the country," he said. "We cannot have open
borders. There are a lot of economic immigrants, but we have a lot of
criminals, too."



The Tucson sector

. One of the Border Patrol's nine sectors along the southwest border.

. Encompasses 262 linear miles.

. Has fewer than 20 miles of permanent fence and is marked, in many areas,
only by barbed wire.

. Has 2,400 to 2,500 agents assigned to it.

. Employs about 500 agents at its largest Border Patrol station in Nogales,
Ariz.

. Agents have apprehended more than 350,000 illegal crossers so far this
fiscal year.

. Agents have seized more than 596,000 pounds of marijuana so far this
fiscal year.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.