US fights a border-crime 'epidemic'

Law-enforcement agencies find new ways to coordinate their efforts to stem the rise of violence on the border with Mexico.

By Faye Bowers | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the April 25, 2007 edition

Page 1 of 3

PHOENIX - Pima County sheriff Clarence Dupnik expressed his frustration and made a plea for help after a fatal ambush of undocumented immigrants 25 miles south of Tucson last month.

Two illegal immigrants had just been killed and another injured during what was apparently a botched heist of a drug shipment. It turned out that the pickup truck attacked was transporting 23 illegal immigrants, not drugs, into the US.

"The violence associated with the problem of migration and narcotics ... has reached epidemic proportions," Mr. Dupnik told reporters on March 30. "If we had the money for the kinds of resources that we need, we could make a huge impact on border violence and crime."

As Congress debates a comprehensive immigration program that many say is the only way to deal with the smuggling problems and the violence that it entails, Dupnik's remarks show that those law-enforcement officers and agencies on the front lines are beginning to speak out, unite, and search for their own solutions.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), for instance, recently sent a new special agent to lead Arizona's efforts.

"ICE is taking the lead in trying to consolidate the disparate and disjointed efforts – at least on the human smuggling side," says Alonzo Peña, special agent in charge of ICE for Arizona. "One of the initiatives I'm bringing forward with our state, local, and other federal partners is a system to better track and coordinate investigations and intelligence related to immigration in the state of Arizona."

Upon arrival in Phoenix last October, Mr. Peña was confronted with not only combating the highly sophisticated criminal organizations that smuggle more drugs and aliens into Arizona than any other state, but with building workable coalitions with local, state, and other federal law enforcement agencies.

So far, local officials have praised his efforts. He's now in the midst of implementing a three-tiered approach to bring other agencies on the same page and to leverage the resources of each agency so they can conduct more focused and collaborative operations.

Page 1 | 2 | 3 | Next Page