Don't Militarize the Border
April 23, 1999
It's up to Congress to ensure the Border Patrol presence is sufficient to keep things from boiling over. And one thing is certain -- militarization is not the answer.
Written by El Paso Times Editorial, El Paso Times
Frustrated Arizona ranchers have the wrong idea
A weekend of violence along Arizona's southern border has led to calls for mobilization of the National Guard to patrol the border.
A worse idea could hardly be conceived.
Militarization of the border already has shown that it is a fatally flawed plan; the shooting death by Marines of a young man in Redford, Texas, a couple of years ago proved the folly of placing untrained military in the role of interdicting illegal border crossers and drugs.
The obvious response to Arizona's problem is to beef up the Border Patrol presence in troubled areas. Agents are carefully and specifically trained to deal with border issues such as illegal crossings and dope smuggling. Yet, though cognizant of mounting problems along the border, the parent Immigration and Naturalization Service has stalled in the hiring of 1,000 new agents authorized by Congress this year. INS needs to take a look at what's happening along the border, recognize it for the serious situation it is, and stop whatever (undoubtedly political) little game is halting expansion of the Border Patrol.
A group of ranchers along the southeastern Arizona border, styling itself the Cochise County Concerned Citizens, is apparently behind the call for the Guard. While their worries are valid -- ranchland is being damaged and livestock hurt by illegal border crossers -- their solution is not.
What should frighten the government -- and galvanize it to action -- is the remark of a rancher named David Stoddard, who said more border protection is necessary or "someone is going to die because of all the frustration down here."
The situation must not be allowed to get that far. It's up to the INS to ensure the Border Patrol presence is sufficient to keep things from boiling over.
And one thing is certain -- militarization is not the answer.
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