II. DO BORDER WALLS WORK?

II. DO BORDER WALLS WORK?  If not, why are 65 countries building them?

Currently, politicians are arguing over a project that initially needs about six billion dollars.   This is about .08 of a percent of the U.S. budget.  That is not a large percentage of spending for upgrading access denial that would save money in the long term as well as improve security. It is not enough to seal the border but it will allow the denial of access of many to areas between and near ports of entry (POEs).  That allows better use of limited human resources and would actually save the lives of those who cross into hostile areas.

I have often heard the argument that walls don’t work as they can be tunneled under or simply flown over, or just take the water route in an end run.  Tunneling under borders has occurred for centuries.   Now there is more sophisticated equipment to detect tunneling, water routes are patrolled with more sophisticated radars and aircraft, and the use of these routes have subsided significantly.

The wall/fences work by funneling people to POEs that are located in border population centers.  At these points, those who cross are exposed to the most effective detection equipment that has proven effective intercepting large quantities of drugs, usually hidden in vehicles.  These are usually under some control of Drug Cartels. 

In the less populated areas, there are some older fences that may stop vehicular traffic but not people on foot.   We have no firm figure on how many do this, only numbers of those caught.  As more states legalize substances such as Marijuana, traffickers have moved into stronger man-made drugs such as fentanyl and into human trafficking.   

What is not generally known is that there are several hundred miles of our southern border without physical barriers.   Simply a cattle-type fence and occasional signs to warn people of the border and possible smuggling are common.  Friends living in the area have stated the situation in Cochise County has improved greatly in recent months.

T

The Huachuca Mountains allow access from Mexico right into Fort Huachuca and national forest lands.  It is difficult terrain and not many choose this route.  Other areas of the border are in the desert land, a harsh environment that has claimed many lives from exposure, thirst, and hunger. 

The NGO Border Angels estimate that since 1994, about 10,000 people have died in their attempt to cross the border.^[3] According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 7,216 people have died crossing the U.S–Mexico border between 1998 and 2017, mostly from exposure dehydration and hyperthermia. 

I have not heard this large number of migrant deaths discussed in current arguments.   I do know that many of these lives could have been spared if we had adequate border fencing and wall to keep migrants from crossing into environmentally hostile areas. 

I would like to present some information into what a large number of countries feel about border security. 

65 countries of the world have erected some form of border security barriers.  Several countries have erected more than one.   They must find some value in spending money on walls and fences

As a former intelligence and security guy, I worry more than a little about the facts that smuggling drugs and migrants can also smuggle terrorists (and has) and that the Coyote/Crime Cartel operations are two way.  A Fast and Furious gun showed up in Morocco.  At the present time, Latin America is the most violent area of the world. It suffers 33% of the world’s homicides despite having only 8% of its population. One-quarter of all global homicides are concentrated in four countries – Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela.  In Latin America, one-third of the people have been victims of violent crime and in Mexico, over one half of the population has suffered a violent crime within a family.  Many of the current migrants are victims of crime or are trying to avoid it but there are also convicted criminals in their homeland who feel they can do better in the U.S. with a fresh start.   

There really is a need for some type of immigration reform that is aimed at stopping these repeat offenders – something to separate them from those not committed to a life of crime or members of a cartel or gang. 

Although border walls have been effective at some points in the U.S., more than half the border is open.   These areas are mostly in desert-like conditions and many deaths have occurred from exposure. In Europe, where walls have been built to keep out mass migrations, groups have taken to the sea to cross borders and this also results in deaths by drowning.  The obvious path is to reduce the magnetism that sparks mass migrations.  But the problem in the U.S. is much more than migrations.   It involves Transnational Organized Crime and all its bad effects on our society.  There are other downsides as well but these are up to our elected officials to come up with legislative reform that most people can live with.   They seem unwilling or not up to the task.

 

 https://truthfeed.com/shocking-nations-all-over-the-world-are-building-border-walls-to-keep-out-illegal-migrants/50660/.

Not all border walls have been called successful.   The Great Wall of China of 13,000 miles was never one wall but many built by kingdoms to prevent nomadic tribe raids it helped to control movements and control commerce, collect taxes and control movements. It is now producing revenue from tourism.  Not unlike the European experiences with walled cities as tourist sites.  When people moved from city-states to countries with borders agreed to by others, the walls became unnecessary.  However after 9/11, and ease of movement around the globe, many countries began rethinking security with new walls along international boundaries...

In the U.S., the first border upgrades of any significance were under Operation Gatekeeper.  It came into play during the Clinton administration in 1994 and built just less than 6 miles of strong fencing and other measures between San Diego and Tijuana.

The measure carried out by the U.S. Border Patrol of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)), was aimed at halting illegal immigration to the United States at the United States–Mexico border near San Diego, California.^[1] According to the INS, the goal of Gatekeeper was "to restore integrity and safety to the nation's busiest border." Congress approved the money for implementation.

By 1997, the budget of the Immigration and Naturalization Service had doubled to 800 million dollars, the number of Border Patrol agents had nearly doubled, the amount of fencing or other barriers more than doubled, and the number of underground sensors nearly tripled.   In a later phase, biometric identification was added.

The merits of Operation Gatekeeper were debated extensively, including during Congressional hearings. The Department of Justice, the INS, and the Border Patrol maintained that Operation Gatekeeper was a success. Some Congressmen and others sharply criticized the program. 

In May 1995, the Border Patrol initiated Operation Disruption to target human smugglers, and also established new checkpoints on interior highways and apprehensions increased.  The first Immigration Court was set up at the San Ysidro POE that expedited Immigration Court hearings, deportations of those with or with false documents.  

Phase two also introduced IDENT, an automated biometric identification system, to facilitate identification of repeat offenders and "criminal aliens", i.e., illegal immigrants with criminal records or active warrants for their arrest.

The tighter controls at the busy checkpoint sent illegals to passage over the Otay Mountains to the east that did not have upgraded border walls.   The death rate climbed.

A more extensive wall/fence system might have prevented many immigrant deaths.

To operate our border security measures, we have the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a part of the Department of Homeland Security.

CBP Mission from their website.

“CBP’s top priority is to keep terrorists and their weapons from entering the U.S. while welcoming all legitimate travelers and commerce. CBP officers and agents enforce all applicable U.S. laws, including illegal immigration, narcotics smuggling, and illegal importation. CBP deploys highly trained law enforcement personnel who apprehend more than 1,000 individuals each day for suspected violations of U.S. laws.

CBP's border security mission is led at ports of entry by CBP officers from the Office of Field Operations, along with U.S. borders by agents from the United States Border Patrol and from the air and sea by agents from Air and Marine Operations. Also at ports of entry, agriculture specialists are deployed to protect U.S. agriculture from the introduction of pests or disease from overseas sources.”

Saving Lives

CBP and other agencies are also involved in saving lives.  This is not often covered in the news.  The demographics of our border agents are interesting.   About 52% of the operating force is of Hispanic descent and a large number of them had parents who were recent legal immigrants but most are from families that have been present for generations. They do what they can to save lives. U.S. Border Patrol reported that 3,221 migrants were rescued in the fiscal year 2017.^[4] (Wikipedia)

Migrant deaths along the Mexico–U.S. border

The sadder statistics around are the many deaths that occur as people find weak spots in border security, cross the border illegally,  and enter hostile environments.

The US Border Patrol reported 294 migrant deaths in the fiscal year 2017 (ending September 30, 2017), which was lower than in 2016 (322), and any year during the period 2003-2014. Exposure (including heat stroke, dehydration, and hyperthermia) were the leading cause of these deaths.^[2]

The group Border Angels estimates that since 1994, about 10,000 people have died in their attempt to cross the border...^[3] According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 7,216 people have died crossing the U.S–Mexico border between 1998 and 2017.^[4] In 2005, more than 500 died across the entire U.S.–Mexico border.^[5] The number of yearly border crossing deaths doubled from 1995 to 2005, before declining.^[6] The statistics reflect only known deaths and do not include those who have never been found.^[7]

Mexico's Secretariat of Foreign Affairs has compiled data including deaths on the Mexican side of the border area during the period from 1994 to 2000. The data shows 87 deaths in 1996, 149 in 1997, 329 in 1998, 358 in 1999, and 499 in 2000

Two examples of successful border walls (although controversial) include: 

The first is from Israel. The graph clearly depicts the effectiveness of their border

More details can be found at:

https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Feb.%202017_Securing%20Israel%20Lessons%20learned%20from%20a%20nation%20under%20constant%20threat%20of%20attack.pdf.

The U.S. Senate report is worth reading for those with an interest in security in general.  It also contains information on Aviation Security, Cybersecurity, POE operations,

and dollar costs.  One has to keep in mind is that border walls are the difference between life and death to Israel

A Slate magazine article basically states the fences work. The Israeli fence is very efficient. The number of fatalities from terror attacks within Israel dropped from more than 130

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2006/06/what-america-can-learn-from-israel-s-fence.html.

The second is from Hungary.  The country reduced illegal immigrants from entering by 99%,

Hungary decided to move against the EU open borders policy in that they discovered that many of the illegal immigrants were not simply fleeing war.  The country had a spike in criminality and terrorist attacks.  They decided to build a wall at its border with Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia while refusing to take in its Brussels-imposed “quota” of immigrants. 

This wall apparently does its job.  Illegal immigration collapsed from just under 400,000 in 2015 to less than 20,000 in 2016 and only 1184 in 2017.   Most of those were from Romania.  Statistics were from Hungary’s Chief Security Advisor Gyorgy Bakondi. 

The advisor further stated that the system of technical barriers is the key to the success of border security.

Without it, illegal immigration would be impossible to stop the mass arrival of immigrants” https://www.theissue.com/politics/hungarys-border-wall-reduced-illegal-immigration-by-99-percent.

A current estimate is that about one-third of our border with Mexico has some form of working wall or barrier fence.  About half of that needs major upgrading.  Existing walls have been successful at funneling border crossers to Points of Entry (POE) control points to use some new and sophisticated equipment to make some rather large drug and human interceptions.  Some correctly state that POEs are where most drugs enter the U.S.  This is the preferred method used by Cartels as more can be carried in a vehicle than on foot.  But there are many people crossing weak border areas with packs on their backs containing drugs.  The border patrol believes they only catch 10-15% of illegal border crossers.    But in reality, we have only estimates as to how many people and drugs cross into the U.S. from Mexico.  What is interesting is that in some areas, more illegals are apprehended at highway checkpoints some miles to the interior of the U.S. than directly at the border.  These were started with Operation Gatekeeper.

There are other reports and statistics that provide answers to the question: DO BORDER WALLS WORK? They do work.  Some work very well, others like the U.S.-Mexico Border Wall/Fence are only partially adequate. Border Patrol agents need a physical barrier that provides a containment function to keep the flood of illegal aliens at bay. This enables the agents to focus on highly risky locations and apprehend enough border-crossers to not lose the battle altogether.

Border walls and fences have been used for centuries for several reasons.  The first was

the defense against critters and aggressors?  Fortifications often included entire cities as can be seen today throughout Europe.  Early settlers in the U.S. had as priority #1, Water and #2, building a wall or fort as there were folks out there who didn’t want them there. Now, border walls are primarily used to prevent smuggling.  People, drugs, weapons, and most recently, mass migrations.

In the Indus Valley village of Kot Jiji, there are walls from 3500 B, C, E,  At the West Bank town of Jericho, one can see remnants of an extensive wall from the 8^th Millennium B.C.E.  There apparently were few politicians in those days that fought over a need for defenses.  In the days of City-States, castles and walled cities were used for centuries.  But when firm borders were established for countries and recognized by others,, they were no longer needed.  So the walls we see under construction around the world are fairly new phenomena in response to mass migrations and TOC.

Lou

II. REPORTS FROM THE BORDER AREA

The following is an answer to questions I asked of friends who live near Fort Huachuca.

The first is from a former Military Intelligence Officer Vietnam Veteran who has taught at both the US Army Intelligence School and the US Army Combat Surveillance and Electronic Warfare School.  He was also a law enforcement officer.   At one time he was my Company Commander when I was a First Sergeant at Fort Huachuca.

“As far as I can see, the steel fence extends for about one mile on either side of the ports of Douglas/Agua Prieta and Nogales, AZ/Nogales, Sonora.  Don't know about the parts I can't see from the highway. 

There is extensive sensor emplacement along the border, and on Ft. Huachuca, to include the East Range.  Be that as it may, the Border Patrol is fully engaged on foot, horseback, highway checkpoints and Predator UAV.

In spite of all this, yes, illegals can walk into Ft. Huachuca over or around the mountains.   I believe the apprehension rate is up due to the technological barriers (or detectors) in place.  Not a good idea to go hiking up Ramsey Canyon - or anywhere else near the border- without a weapon and a cell phone.  My next door neighbor, while horseback riding, has seen at least one group of four illegals w/long guns in Miller Canyon.  (There is a nice small campground w/a permanent latrine in that canyon that is a well-used illegal pickup point there.) 

I live about 1/4 mile downhill from the National Forest border and the same distance south of Miller Canyon.  Still have traffic crossing thru the NF up behind my abode, but much less helicopter activity at night in the tracking/gotcha mode.

I trust this helps - remember, it's only my observations. My concealed carry permit is well used!!”

This second item is an article from a retired Brigadier General who was assigned to my company before he retired.   In addition to his MI career, BG Bud Strom was a Cowboy.  He not only wrote Cowboy Poetry he formed the Cochise Cowboy and Music Gathering that helps youth.  He also owned and ran cattle at his Single-Star Ranch in Hereford, Arizona which is right on the border of Cochise County Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. The General passed away in 2012.  http://www.cowboypoetry.com/budstrom.htm.

We who knew him to know we are the lessor after his passing.

One rancher's solution to the 'Mexican invasion
By Graham McLeod Freelance contributor

In this second part of a two-part series on illegal immigration and its impact on states bordering Mexico, Orangeville resident Graham McLeod looks at the effect the problem poses for ranchers.

Drug smugglers are only one of the concerns for Bud Strom and other ranchers along the U.S. - Mexican border.

Strom owns and operates the Single Star Ranch near Hereford, Arizona, 70 miles [110 km] southeast of Tucson. (How we came to meet this likable and accomplished gentleman will be explained later.) The ranch, slightly larger than 1,000 acres, sits between Highway 92 and the Mexican border, a few miles from the ranch's southern boundary. It is a peaceful-looking and scenic landscape, set between the San Pedro River valley to the east and the Huachuca Mountains to the west (pronounced 'Wah-chooka').

At 9:15 on a February morning we turn off the highway to tour the ranch. It is a typical mid-winter day in the Sonoran desert: sunny and clear with the temperature near 50F (10C). The elevation is 4,800 feet above sea level.

The Single Star is a working ranch, as attested by Bud's attire — worn jeans, well-used boots, and a sweat-stained Stetson.

The ranch is part of a much larger tract of land that has had cattle grazing on it since the late 1880s. Bud acquired his acreage twenty years ago after it had sat idle for some years.

Bud is a strong advocate of natural farming and employs tried and tested techniques to get the most out of his land and produce the desired product. The ranch is divided into a series of paddocks through which he rotates his 150 head of Herefords, moving them from one to another as the supply dictates.

The grasslands were sparse this past winter because it hadn't rained in the region for nine months, and it's unlikely they will flourish again until torrential thunderstorms occur during the monsoon season in July and August. For now, the cattle must be fed alfalfa pellets to augment their diet. Each fall Bud has no trouble marketing his all natural beef to repeat customers.

After a get-acquainted chat in the bunkhouse, formerly the 'teasing barn', and a walkthrough of a two-story adobe barn that houses his small stable of horses, we headed off in the ranch's pick-up truck to tour the range.

As we drove slowly over the rutted lanes we learned firsthand about the problems the border crossers create for ranchers like Strom.

It is easy to see why the illegal entrants and drug smugglers frequently trespass across his land. The relatively flat ground dotted with Palo Verde trees and mesquite bushes makes for easy walking compared to trails through the nearby mountains.

Border crossers open gates between the paddocks, cut the barbed wire fencing and leave their garbage behind for the cattle to munch on, sometimes with fatal results. Pieces of broken glass or plastic bottles, discarded food containers, and pills taken by border crossers to stay awake ('uppers' for instance) have all been found in the stomachs of animals. Discarded clothing and knapsacks are often found rotting in the desert as well.

Diseases prevalent in many parts of Central and South America — hoof and mouth or hookworm, for instance, — could turn up in local herds, veterinarians fear. Human waste could also be a possible source of disease. In the rollover accident mentioned above, two of the injured had full-blown cases of chickenpox. The passengers were all from Ecuador or Guatemala.

When Strom spots crossers (he doesn't sit up nights watching for them!) he calls the 'green and white taxi service,' as he refers to the Border Patrol, whose vehicles are white with green stripes. Depending on the activity in the sector at the time, they respond fairly quickly and apprehend the entrants before they get much further. On occasion, he has been approached for food or water and has never refused.

Drug smugglers have also crossed his property — he showed us a sturdy metal gate that a vehicle, no doubt a large pick-up truck, had buckled as it smashed through hightailing it back to Mexico.

On one occasion, he found a discarded trash compactor on the ranch, probably left behind after being used to compress large bales of marijuana into smaller and thus more easily hidden packages.

He is very aware that drug smugglers are probably armed and never seeks a confrontation with trespassers. The only weapon he has on hand is a revolver loaded with 'snake shot'. Why? To dispatch a rattlesnake that has bitten one of his animals. The snakes are hibernating now, though, and won't be a nuisance until the warmer months.

As the bite is usually in the animal's nose area, causing it to swell up, the first action he takes is to shove a short length of flexible plastic tubing up a nostril to help it breathe until anti-snakebite serum can be administered. Coyotes, the four-legged variety, preying on newborn calves are also a problem.

The weapon issue has raised Strom's ire on occasion. He has been interviewed by most major networks and featured in a front-page article of the New York Times.

During one interview he was urged to draw his revolver for the cameras. When he refused, the crew stopped filming and ended the interview. It seems they were more interested in creating the impression of a gun-toting rancher ready to take on smugglers than the real story.

Bud has had a few humorous encounters, too. In one, a lone man knocked on his door after crossing from Mexico. He didn't speak either Spanish or English. It took a few minutes for Bud using a smattering of foreign languages and hand signals-to find out that the interloper was from Sicily and wanted to get to Nashua, New Hampshire, thousands of miles away.

Could Bud call him a taxi? Of course! Bud hit the speed dial for the Border Patrol, directed the man to walk down the lane and wait at the highway for the green and white taxi. What his reaction was when the Border Patrol 'taxi' arrived to arrest him can only be imagined!

The federal government is taking steps, albeit controversial ones, to stem the tide of illegal border crossers. For each of the last three fiscal years, over one million illegal entrants have been deported to Mexico.

Homeland Security has proposed the construction of a 700 mile-long fence as part of the solution. Parts of it have already been erected, consisting of 40 ft high metal panels. 'Build a 40 ft fence, and they will counter with a 45 ft ladder', critics have argued. Or tunnel under it. The border area between Mexico and the Single Star Ranch is still open land.

Another measure being tried is a series of towers housing radar, cameras and motion detectors. It is hoped that this 'virtual fence' will vastly increase the percentage of aliens caught crossing the border. The Department of Homeland Security [DHS] has erected one on Bud's ranch, for which he receives a modest stipend.

Ideally, when activity is detected the signal is fed to a central complex in Naco, Arizona, twenty miles to the east, and Border Patrol agents can take action to intercept the illegal entrants. DHS plans to install similar

towers along the Canada-US border. The total for both borders calls for 1,800 towers at an estimated cost of $2 billion.
The system is not foolproof, though, and the detectors on towers, like the one on the Single Star Ranch, are susceptible to false readings caused by a number of factors. A similar line of nine towers on the border southwest of Tucson is to be replaced with a newer version that the Boeing Corporation, the contractor, hopes will overcome the drawbacks in the present system.

Bud Strom has no easy answers to the overall problem, because, as he admits, there aren't any. One of the major hurdles that may never be overcome is the attitude south of the border. Authorities at all levels are bribed to look the other way as the coyotes assemble their charges. Cananea, for instance, is a large town less than 20 miles from the Single Star Ranch and a known major assembly point for would-be border crossers. 

For now, Bud can only continue as he has for years, clean up after them, repair the broken fences, and watch for signs of injury or health problems to his livestock.

And he hopes that the worst doesn't happen — acts of terrorism that can be attributed to or abetted by persons who have crossed the vast open border, or an epidemic affecting large numbers of the U.S. population spread by unwitting carriers who have also entered the country illegally.

Bud Strom grew up on a ranch in Montana and joined the U.S. Army in his teens. During a 30-year career, he rose to the rank of Brigadier-General, designated by a star on his uniform and an easy call when naming his ranch.

Bud is also a widely known and popular 'Cowboy Poet', and that is how we came to meet him. Cowboy Poets are males and females of all ages and tell about everyday life on ranches throughout their poetry. The tales can be funny, sad, or philosophical, but are always based on true experiences. They are much like balladeers who sing their stories.

Gatherings take place throughout the US west and attract large audiences to listen to as many as 50 or more artists recite their works.

We first heard Bud this past February at the annual three-day gathering in Sierra Vista, Arizona, not far from his ranch. He has also taught poetry to thousands of school children in the area for many years. He has a great CD available titled 'Lightning & Angels' with 19 of his poems on it. Google 'bud storm' for lots of information on Bud and other Cowboy Poets.

This is the conclusion of a two-part series. A former Citizen columnist, Graham McLeod and his wife Pat, a former Orangeville councilor, were in Arizona earlier this year. Part 1 can be found by searching 'Arizona' in the archive at www.citizen.on.ca.
http://www.citizen.on.ca/news/2008/0821 ... s/039.html

When one looks over past border crossing activity, it is easy to get a picture that the main areas of crossing have shifted from Arizona to Southern Texas.  According to a NY Times article, this occurred around 2012/3.   It reads in part:

The New York Times is reporting that for the first time in more than a decade the battle over securing the border has shifted from Arizona to Texas. According to the story:

“Now the Rio Grande Valley has displaced the Tucson enforcement zone as the hot spot, with makeshift rafts crossing the river in increasing numbers, high-speed car chases occurring along rural roads and a growing number of dead bodies turning up on ranchers’ land, according to local officials.

“There is just so much happening at the same time — it is overwhelming,” said Benny Martinez, the chief deputy in the Sheriff’s Department of Brooks County, Tex., 70 miles north of the border, where smugglers have been dropping off carloads of immigrants who have made it past Border Patrol checkpoints.”

https://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/immigration-border-security-and-the-rio-grande-valley/.

·          

TEXAS.  During a reunion in El Paso, a couple of years ago, I attended a nice briefing that was conducted by the City of El Paso.   It covered the progress that the City had made in their long-term problems such as water supplies and crime. They pointed out that El Paso had one of the lowest crime rates in the country.  I knew that the crime rate across the Rio Grande River in Ciudad Juarez had gone the other way.  Some of my old friends who retired there – a couple worked with border security as a second career.   I was advised that once the Border Wall went up, crime went down.   Simple as that.   One retired SFer I know who lives there just told me “Fences work. “When I lived there around 1980, burglary (I was hit once) and car theft (I was twice hit with one recovery) as about the highest in the nation.  These occurred off a post, away from security.

So one can easily surmise that when the U.S. put up fences and controls along the border in the El Paso area, crime went from one of highest rates to one of the lowest rates in the country.  I am not sure of the effects at the other major crossing point/population areas but would predict that there would be similar improvements.

The Rio Grande Valley near McAllen, Texas apparently has been noted as having a need for improvement.   Contracts for $145 million for construction begin this month, February 2019 for six miles of levee type border wall – the first phase of the 28 miles now in planning.

The success of the El Paso fencing is very much needed here as a large portion of the southern Texas border lies alongside one of the worst crime states in Mexico.  The contrast between these two areas clearly shows the value of a good border fence and the warm feeling that good security brings to a community.

 The article: 

The knock on Lupe Dempsey’s door Friday at the Horse Shoe D ranch, less than a half mile from the Mexican border, hardly surprised the retired Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

On her doorstep was a 25-year-old man named Juan who, thirsty and disoriented, told how he’d become lost after illegally crossing the border and had wandered the desert in 110-degree heat.

His story was not unique to Dempsey and others in this west Texas town, where the 18-foot-high U.S. border fence ends abruptly, giving way to a few strands of barbed wire.

Residents say Mexicans wander along the southern side of the border fence for days, searching for the terminus, where – if they make it – crossing is easy. Juan told Dempsey he was from Zacatecas state in central Mexico. He said he had been with three other men, including a 20-year-old rookie coyote – slang for the guides who migrants into the U.S.

Juan paid the young coyote’s managers $3,000, but the group got lost in the scorching desert and split up. And as Juan learned, just getting across the border doesn't guarantee illegal immigrants anything – they’re still in parched land that ranges from desert too barren scrubland.

 “I know what he’s going through so I fed him and gave him water,” Dempsey said. “He was very grateful and told me he wanted to go home.”

Crossing into a city, such as El Paso, puts the immigrants in position to get help, if not food and a job. But following the segmented border fence 50 miles southeast to Fort Hancock, population 1,750, puts them smack in the middle of nowhere.

“While it may keep people out in those areas of the fence, it pushes the migrants into more remote areas where it is easy to get lost, it is very dangerous,” Dempsey said.

Dempsey called Hudspeth County Sheriff's Deputy Johnny Schuller, who later turned Juan over to the U.S. Border Patrol. There is nothing for men like Juan in Fort Hancock, where extreme drought has turned once fertile fields of green cotton into dust. Dozens of businesses and ranch homes have been abandoned, many with skeletal roof beams exposed to the blistering sun.

Those who have remained are disdainful of lawmakers who think they have a solution to border security and never ask the locals what is needed. The sentiment here about the Senate-approved Hoeven-Coker Amendment, which calls for an additional 700 miles of fencing and 20,000 Border Patrol agents, is that it is another example of a disconnection from reality in Washington.

Surges in border security has had deadly results. A"funneling effect", where migrants move away from fenced areas, has resulted in Texas overtaking Arizona with the most migrant deaths. In 2012 the Texas Civil Rights Project reported 271 border deaths in 2012. Brooks County, 70 miles from the border, accounted for the highest number with 129.

Ruben Garcia, executive director at Annunciation House, a nonprofit immigrant shelter in El Paso, Texas, said he has seen the effects of "funneling" first hand.

"If we haven't learned anything, when we do these operations it forces desperate people to take more desperate risks," Garcia said.

Since retiring from ICE, Dempsey has been working as an interpreter in an immigration court and has seen the issue evolve over her career firsthand and says the system is working.

“We already have very strict immigration laws government never provided the funding for,” Dempsey said. “We don’t need more laws, we just need to enforce what’s on the books.”

Schuller said when he was patrolling the border during the early days of his career there was great synergy between local law enforcement and the Border Patrol. But since the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, Schuller said that cooperation has waned.

“It’s almost a us-and-them mentality, they rarely ask for our advice and cooperation and we are from here and know what goes on better than they do,” said a frustrated Schuller.

As he spoke, two of the missing migrants who had come over with Juan emerged from the shrubs and trees that line the Rio Grande River bed and wandered to the tall rusted metal poles that make up the fence.

Dirty and struggling to walk, the men identified themselves as Enrique Jose, 40, and David Garcia, 35, both of Durango state. They said they had been wandering among the mesquite, greasewood, yucca, and cactus for three days without food and only a small amount of water.

“We want to go back to Juarez,” Jose said. “My feet hurt so bad.”

The men said they crossed the border in the nearby gap in the metal fence which is protected only by four strands of barbed wire on weather-beaten posts just barely able to hold the fence vertical. Their ultimate goal is to find employment in the U.S.

“After we got lost, we decided we wanted to go home, so we climbed the fence back into Mexico,” Jose said.

For West Texans like Dempsey and Schuller, their compassion for migrants runs as deep as their frustration with the federal government when it comes to border policy.

“It’s a sad story, God bless them,” Schuller said as Garcia and Jose shuffled back to the river with less than a half bottle of water each.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/fort-hancock-texas-where-a-fence-and-hope-for-illegals-ends.   July 1, 2013, updated November 27, 2015

This will be a never-ending story until the border is effectively closed with adequate walls, fencing, and monitoring.  These young men were lucky they survived.  They were from Ciudad Juarez, the crime-ridden city across the Rio Grande River from El Paso.  As the fencing was improved there, they had to enter the U.S. where the wall stopped.

Lou

Border Wall and Security

Subject: Border Wall and Security

Politics aside please.  This is a position on the need for a border wall and a better approach to security. We have had too many preventable attacks and for those that could not have been prevented, our losses could have been much lighter if leaders had listened or read intelligence and after-action reports.

To start with, I would like to show off a bit of my experiences around Walls, Security and Threats.  In my military service, I had perhaps more than an average exposure to intelligence and security.  I worked around some good Soldiers - combat arms, MPs, MI, some civilian specialists I have this mindset that most Americans do not understand security very much and leave it to the “experts.” Since 9/11, there have been some significant improvements in our security posture, but the physical border is just a little more secure than it was in 2001. We (our elected officials) have not gone that extra mile to put a lock on the gate.

I have had some experience along borders and believe that I can present some evidence that they can and do work.  This lists a bit of my experience with this stuff.

I worked for three years along the Berlin Wall. From a year after it was started, one saw continual strengthening and improvements that continued until it fell 25 years after it went up.  It was used to keep people in and it worked.  Probably fewer than 150 people escaped across it in the open. I flew over it almost every day, patrolled both sides of it almost daily, took about 8,000 photos of it as well as some other recordings to maintain a daily record, maintain a large situation map, and files at G2, Berlin Brigade on the wall. We input our data as potential targets for potential operations as well as order of battle information. We usually briefed visitors in some authority 2-3 times a week. That was much of my work in Berlin until Vietnam called out for me to return.

After a year in Vietnam, where I was fortunate enough have been with good troops and even on the worst day to be in a good solid RF Fort that would pass anybody’s inspection, FUGAS, Claymores and Spooky 47 to save our butts during a rather large VC attack, it was back to Europe.  Good security saved my butt there.

I was assigned to HQ USAREUR/7A/CENTAG and conducted update briefs and some added intelligence collection, targeting and projects that included Berlin and East Germany.

I was stationed in Korea three times, with duty along the DMZ twice and at EUSA Hq initially on the IG Inspection Team at both KORSCOM and EUSA that included security and surety programs and field work that included monitoring some NK tunneling activities under the DMZ.  On my last tour there, my MI (CEWI) Battalion had surveillance and collection sites and Soldiers on or within rifle shot of that well-patrolled border.  Some sites are still in use by the ROKA.  Not that my presence had any significant impact on security in Korea.  While having lunch at Camp Humphreys during a security inspection, the power went off.  It was due to local nationals hooking up to a 100KW generator with a large truck that pulled it through the double perimeter fence and across fields.   Rules of engagement prohibited the garrison security forces from using force to stop the theft. The locals learned how to survive while under Japanese rule and had some rather sophisticated methods to acquire needed items.  Fence or no fence.

In the early days of Vietnam in 1961, on TDY trips, I assisted in attempts to provide some added physical security at new SF Camps and Advisory Team locations along parts of the border with Cambodia.  It was a time where a roll of tape concertina wire was guarded more than beer and everyone dreamed of a solid berm. Later in that conflict, I plotted and assisted in placing UGS and other sensors such as GSR on and along known infiltration routes in the 44^th Special Tactical Zone/IV Corps. There were many areas without fencing and we had few resources to respond to border crossers detected by our sensors. But they looked nice on the map and in reports.  Much of my time was spent with Operation SEALORDS, a large scale plan by Admiral Zumwalt, COMNAVFORV to use most US Navy assets available such as the PBR and PCF along with USSF that were on the border and VNN/ARVN for larger operations against discovered base camps. This denial operation in 1968-70 proved quite effective in intercepting and ultimately reducing VC/NVA movement of supplies into and through the southern areas of Vietnam. After that, we began turning the war over to the permanent residents.

I was stationed at Fort Huachuca that is located in close proximity to the border with the Mexican State of Sonora.  In 1972, the Army Intelligence School moved there and along with the Combat Surveillance and Electronic Warfare Schools, provided training to the armed forces from lessons learned in Vietnam.  This included some training with ground surveillance radars, unattended ground sensors and monitors as well as airborne platforms such as the OV-1B,C,D Mohawk that were used by our forces in Vietnam, and also deployed to Korea and Germany.  Also R&D work was started here in using drones and static aerial platforms for surveillance and reconnaissance. We also provided equipment and training for those that patrolled the border. It was rewarding to pass on lessons learned to younger folks and units.

I received some insight into drug and human trafficking after retirement from the Army.  While working as a contractor for psychology services at a U.S. Federal Prison, I learned quite a bit. I talked to many inmates and staff as well as some government agents about drug and human trafficking into the U.S. Drugs were the big item people were incarcerated for there. But my lessons also included how to corrupt or threaten officials, human slavery operations, border crossing techniques, and the huge amount of money that was involved.   The picture was not a pretty one and that was back in the late 1980s, early 1990s.  It was interesting to talk with those traffickers who were caught right outside of Fort Huachuca and others such as those involved in moving military equipment as a part of Iran-Contra.

That is a summation of my experience with borders and security.   I have attached some additional information you might find useful from the experiences of both U.S. and foreign border security operations.  In reading about several countries, I found some interesting para-military border security units that I did not know were as large as they are and discovered some new technology that is being developed to detect tunnels and to strengthen borders. 

The attachments include the words of people that live on the border.  The second asks the question as to whether border walls work; the third discusses tunneling under walls, the fourth talks about the threats out there and of course the last, my soapbox. I no longer consider myself an up to date expert on security.  I have been away from it for too long.  But I do know that this old Soldier knows more than many of those who are in control or are self-claimed experts that have revealed they don't know jacks**t of what they speak.

If any of this is helpful to anyone, let me know.  I use this format for personal learning.  I know it is sort of odd but that describes me.   Perhaps, if you have strong feelings about the need for better security, you forward parts to a friend, your veteran organization or your representative or just have a drink and delete it. I researched a bit to bring myself up to date. I now know more than I want to.

And no, I do not have concertina around my house.  

Lou

Lou

Border Wall and Security

Border Wall and Security

Politics aside, please.   This is a position on the need for a border wall and a better approach to security.  We have had too many preventable attacks and for those that could not have been prevented, our losses could have been much lighter if leaders had listened or read intelligence and after-action reports.

To start with, I would like to show off a few of my experiences around Walls, Security, and Threats.  In my military service, I had perhaps more than average exposure to intelligence and security.  I worked around some good Soldiers - combat arms, MPs, MI, some civilian specialists I have this mindset that most Americans do not understand security very much and leave it to the “experts.”  Since 9/11, there have been some significant improvements in our security posture, but the physical border is just a little more secure than it was in 2001.  We (our elected officials) have not gone that extra mile to put a lock on the gate. 

I have had some experience along borders and believe that I can present some evidence that they can and do work.  This lists a bit of my experience with this stuff. 

I worked for three years along the Berlin Wall. From a year after it was started, one saw continual strengthening and improvements that continued until it fell 25 years after it went up.  It was used to keep people in and it worked.  Probably fewer than 150 people escaped across it in the open.  I flew over it almost every day, patrolled both sides of it almost daily, took about 8,000 photos of it as well as some other recordings to maintain a daily record, maintain a large situation map, and files at G2, Berlin Brigade on the wall. We input our data as potential targets for potential operations as well as the order of battle information. We usually briefed visitors in some authority 2-3 times a week.  That was much of my work in Berlin until Vietnam called out for me to return.

After a year in Vietnam, where I was fortunate enough have been with good troops and even on the worst day to be in a good solid RF Fort that would pass anybody’s inspection, FUGAS, Claymores and Spooky 47 to save our butts during a rather large VC attack, it was back to Europe.  Good security saved my butt there. 

I was assigned to HQ USAREUR/7A/CENTAG and conducted update briefs and some added intelligence collection, targeting and projects that included Berlin and East Germany. 

I was stationed in Korea three times, with duty along the DMZ twice and at EUSA Hq initially on the IG Inspection Team at both KORSCOM and EUSA that included security and surety programs and field work that included monitoring some NK tunneling activities under the DMZ.  On my last tour there, my MI (CEWI) Battalion had surveillance and collection sites and Soldiers on or within rifle shot of that well-patrolled border.  Some sites are still in use by the ROKA.  Not that my presence had any significant impact on security in Korea.  While having lunch at Camp Humphreys during a security inspection, the power went off.  It was due to local nationals hooking up to a 100KW generator with a large truck that pulled it through the double perimeter fence and across fields.   Rules of engagement prohibited the garrison security forces from using force to stop the theft. The locals learned how to survive while under Japanese rule and had some rather sophisticated methods to acquire needed items.  Fence or no fence. 

In the early days of Vietnam in 1961, on TDY trips, I assisted in attempts to provide some added physical security at new SF Camps and Advisory Team locations along parts of the border with Cambodia.  It was a time where a roll of tape concertina wire was guarded more than beer and everyone dreamed of a solid berm.   Later in that conflict, I plotted and assisted in placing UGS and other sensors such as GSR on and along known infiltration routes in the 44^th Special Tactical Zone/IV Corps.  There were many areas without fencing and we had few resources to respond to border crossers detected by our sensors. But they looked nice on the map and in reports.  Much of my time was spent with Operation SEALORDS, a large scale plan by Admiral Zumwalt, COMNAVFORV to use most US Navy assets available such as the PBR and PCF along with USSF that were on the border and VNN/ARVN for larger operations against discovered base camps.  This denial operation in 1968-70 proved quite effective in intercepting and ultimately reducing VC/NVA movement of supplies into and through the southern areas of Vietnam. After that, we began turning the war over to the permanent residents. 

I was stationed at Fort Huachuca that is located in close proximity to the border with the Mexican State of Sonora.  In 1972, the Army Intelligence School moved there and along with the Combat Surveillance and Electronic Warfare Schools, provided training to the armed forces from lessons learned in Vietnam.  This included some training with ground surveillance radars, unattended ground sensors, and monitors as well as airborne platforms such as the OV-1B, C, D Mohawk that were used by our forces in Vietnam, and also deployed to Korea and Germany.  Also, R&D work was started here in using drones and static aerial platforms for surveillance and reconnaissance. We also provided equipment and training for those that patrolled the border. It was rewarding to pass on lessons learned to younger folks and units. 

I received some insight into drug and human trafficking after retirement from the Army.  While working as a contractor for psychology services at a U.S. Federal Prison, I learned quite a bit. I talked to many inmates and staff as well as some government agents about drug and human trafficking into the U.S.  Drugs were the big item people were incarcerated for there.  But my lessons also included how to corrupt or threaten officials, human slavery operations, border crossing techniques, and the huge amount of money that was involved.   The picture was not a pretty one and that was back in the late 1980s, early 1990s.  It was interesting to talk with those traffickers who were caught right outside of Fort Huachuca and others such as those involved in moving military equipment as a part of Iran-Contra. 

That is a summation of my experience with borders and security.   I have attached some additional information you might find useful from the experiences of both U.S. and foreign border security operations.  In reading about several countries, I found some interesting para-military border security units that I did not know were as large as they are and discovered some new technology that is being developed to detect tunnels and to strengthen borders.  

The attachments include the words of people that live on the border.  The second asks the question as to whether border walls work; the third discusses tunneling under walls, the fourth talks about the threats out there and of course the last, my soapbox.  I no longer consider myself an up to date expert on security.  I have been away from it for too long.  But I do know that this old Soldier knows more than many of those who are in control or are self-claimed experts that have revealed they don't know jacks**t of what they speak. 

If any of this is helpful to anyone, let me know.  I use this format for personal learning.  I know it is sort of odd but that describes me.   Perhaps, if you have strong feelings about the need for better security, you forward parts to a friend, your veteran organization or your representative or just have a drink and delete it.  I researched a bit to bring myself up to date.  I now know more than I want to. 

And no, I do not have concertina around my house.   

Lou