Border Security - Obama's Latest Failure

The White House has announced actions to address the spiraling illegal immigration crisis at the US-Mexican border, but Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu told Newsmax that President Obama still "doesn't get it... This President not only doesn't get it, he has completely failed in his core responsibilities to enforce the law and secure our border," Babeu, the chief law- enforcement officer in Pinal County in southern Arizona, said in an interview Friday. "There is no longer any law when it comes to immigration. He's now termed it as 'a humanitarian crisis.' " Babeu, 45, is a Republican who dismisses as inadequate administration efforts to address the worsening situation, particularly the problem of minors traveling alone. Obama's latest remedies include speeding up deportation hearings by adding more immigration judges and providing other enforcement resources. In his interview, Babeu challenged recent Department of Homeland Security figures, saying they actually were closer to 60,000 than to the 52,000 reported : "Because there is no longer any consequence or enforcement of the law when it comes to immigration, don't be scratching your head when 60,000 turns into 200,000 or more...They understand that if they get to the border, they're home free." That's the message that President Obama just sent to everyone - not just in Mexico, but throughout Central America." Vice President Joe Biden mer with Central American leaders in Guatamala in an effort to counter rumors that legal status will be granted for illegals who arrive in America without documentation. Biden said the US will provide $9.6 million in additional support to Central American governments to use in receiving and reintegrating repatriated citizens. DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson visited detention centers for illegal minors on military bases in the US at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Similar facilities have been created on bases in California and Oklahoma, raising concerns that national security may be compromised by illegal immigrants' presence on military installations. The administration is also opening new centers throughout the country for illegal families, to augment the only one that is now operating, in York County, Pennsylvania, which houses fewer than 100 people. Obama's moves came as the DHS announced that more than 52,000 illegal minors had been arrested at the US border from October 2013 to June 15 of this year, which was more than double the previous 12 months. The young illegals come from Mexico and Central America, and immigration experts say they are fleeing poor economic conditions and widespread violence in their home countries. But Republicans charge that Obama's policies are encouraging illegals to come to America. Critics also have cited news reports in Central American media that create the impression of lax enforcement of immigration laws by the Obama administration. DHS statistics show that more than 174,000 people - mostly from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala - have been arrested in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas this year. Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn attacked Obama's illegal immigrant policies : "After years of ignoring the law and sending a very dangerous message to Central American families, the administration is finally taking small steps to address this enormous problem. Now, it remains to be seen if the President will follow through." Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe toured a detention center for illegal minors on Friday at the Fort Sill Army Base in Lawton, about 85 miles southwest of Oklahoma City, where 600 children are housed and base officials have been told to prepare for as many as 1,400. Imhofe said : "Something must be done to secure our borders and to force the Obama administration to abide by our immigration laws. The flood of children coming to the border without parents is a humanitarian crisis, and the President is turning it into a national security issue by housing these individuals on our military installations." Both House Speaker John Boehner and Arizona Representative David Schweikert have demanded that President Obama deploy the National Guard to help stem the crisis. Schweikert told Newsmax : "Arizona border patrol agents are telling us that some of their best trackers, some of their best folks, are now providing social services at the detention facilities to children. We need to shore up our border presence." ~~~~~ Sheriff Babeu labelled the Biden session in Central America "window dressing" and demanded that National Guard troops be posted at the border. Former President George W. Bush deployed thousands of troops to the border during his second term as he aurrhorized the Border Patrol to increase its ranks. The patrol has nearly doubled to more than 20,000 agents and the number of immigrants seized while crossing the border illegally has declined overall. Babeu, a retired Army National Guard officer who once commanded 700 soldiers, cited a two-year effort he worked on with US agents to secure a portion of the border at Yuma, Arizona. The program - "Operation Jump Start" - cut illegal immigration and drug- smuggling by 98%, he said : "What worked was armed soldiers. We secured the border in Yuma." Babeu said that same approach needs to be taken to secure the heavy-traffic sectors of the 2,000-mile border stretching from California through Texas that the US shares with Mexico. Babeu also called for adding other necessary improvements, such as better fencing, lighting, sensors and security cameras. "You have to have armed soldiers first - and you build the infrastructure necessary to secure the border at high-traffic areas. You don't need to build the 'great wall of Mexico.' But none of this will be effective without stronger enforcement of the nation's immigration laws. There must be consequences for breaking the law. There is no enforcement of the law." ~~~~~ In addition to the rising numbers of illegal immigrant minors flooding into Arizona, Pinal County authorities face another problem: drug cartel "scouts." They are adult illegals who live in the mountains for up to a month and spot authorities' locations for drug couriers, Sheriff Paul Babeu told Newsmax. His deputies arrested eight "lookouts" in February and March in a sting operation lasting several months. Three were convicted and sentenced to prison on felony drug-related conspiracy charges. Four others remain in custody pending trial. Another pleaded guilty to assisting a criminal syndicate and received supervised probation. The sting involved US Border Patrol agents and a SWAT team from the Pinal County Sheriff's Office. "They have binoculars looking for my deputies...if the coast is clear, they tell the cartels to bring up the drugs....They pass them to the next mountaintop, where another scout...can see for 10 miles." The scouts - as many as 100 according to the DHS - also have food, water, and other such equipment as encrypted radios, cell phones, and solar panels for recharging batteries. They're generally unarmed, but one of the eight arrested was carrying an AR-15 assault rifle. "It's almost like I'm talking about war-torn Afghanistan," said Babeu, who served in Iraq as part of the Army National Guard. "Where's the President's outrage or sense of duty to protect our country and secure our border here?...They're passing through my county on their way to their destination, metro Phoenix...It's their platform for smuggling drugs and people across the country...We are, in the country, the No. 1 pass-through county for drug smuggling." The illegal drug cartel activity in Pinal County has led federal authorities to post warnings to Americans traveling through the county, Babeu said : "Instead of the President putting up signs warning American citizens that it's not safe on American soil - as laughable as this sounds..." why not keep the cartels out of the US? ~~~~~ Dear readers, there is no greater presidential duty than that of protecting the borders of the United States. There is no clearcut reason why President Obama should not be doing this. We can only guess -- is he too soft-hearted to turn away children? Is he unable to devise a plan that will help border states to stem the tide of illegals entering the US? Has he cut back rhe US military so drastically that he has no National Guard to spare? Is he naive enough to believe that the trend will reverse itself if he pays sufficient repatriation dollars to Mexico and Central American countries? OR does he not care about keeping America's borders secure - because he wants to dilute the political power of Republican border states (Texas, Arizona, New Mexico) by packing in illegals who would try to cast Democratic votes? Or does Obama see the illegal immigrant issue as a way to keep Americans from blaming him for high taxes, few new jobs, a broken Obamacare, and VA, IRS, NSA, Middle East and Benghazi problems haunting his White House. My guess is that it's these bungled messes he fears.