Migrant
detentions dip as Guard arrives
23% drop: Fear
of the Army and smugglers' higher prices are
cited; Huntsman visits troops
June 12, 2006
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Gov.
Jon Huntsman Jr. joins the members
of the Utah National Guard as he
tours the wall construction site
Monday in the desert east of San
Luis, Ariz. (Jim Urquhart/The Salt
Lake Tribune) |
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SAN LUIS, Ariz. - They're being called
"jump-starters."
And the 55 Utah National Guard soldiers
who are the vanguard of a force of 6,000
that President Bush has called on to
reinforce the border with Mexico appear to
be having an effect on illegal crossings,
federal authorities said Monday.
Along the Arizona border, once the
busiest crossing spot, detentions have
dropped 23 percent since the arrival of the
National Guard troops last week, compared
with the same period last year, according to
the U.S. Border Patrol.
As the temperatures hovered close to
110, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. spent just
more than an hour Monday visiting three work
sites while he mingled and shook hands with
Utah soldiers, the first to arrive since
Bush's move to reinforce the leaky border
that has become a major political issue in
the United States this election year.
Huntsman took a
quick plane trip to the border Monday
afternoon, taking time away from a three-day
Western Governors Association conference in
Sedona, Ariz. Huntsman said his job was to
support and thank the troops, from those on
duty to those returning from serving abroad.
"It's mighty important for our national
security," Huntsman told a group of some 20
soldiers. "Keep up the good work and keep
your spirits high."
U.S. authorities said detentions along
the U.S.-Mexico border decreased by 21
percent, to 26,994, in the first 10 days of
June, compared with 34,077 for the same
period a year ago.
The soldiers aren't allowed to detain
migrants and have been limited to projects
including extending border fences and
repairing roads, but the military's presence
is keeping would-be crossers away from the
area, a migrant-rights activist said.
The desert region's blistering June
temperatures typically drive down the number
of migrants, but not so drastically, said
Mario Martinez, a spokesman with the U.S.
Border Patrol in Washington.
Francisco Loureiro, who runs a migrant
shelter in Nogales, Mexico, across the
border from Arizona, told The Associated
Press migrants are afraid of the U.S. troops
after hearing reports of abuse in Iraq.
''Some migrants have told me they heard
about the troops on television and, because
the U.S. Army doesn't have a very good
reputation, they prefer not to cross,''
Loureiro said. Others have been discouraged
by smugglers' fees that have nearly doubled
to more than $3,000.
The Utah soldiers plan to build a fence
that's the length of a football field during
their two-week border project. The time
replaces their annual training. The crews
are usually working each day by 5:30 a.m.
and head back to their hotel rooms about 3
p.m. Some work on the 18-foot-high steel
fence, while
others set up concrete bases for light
posts.
Sgt. Tina Frame, a 23-year-old Utah
National Guard soldier who lives in West
Jordan, said Arizona's southwest corner is
reminding her of working construction in
Iraq during her yearlong tour there. Still,
she said it's much hotter in Iraq.
She said she believes the fence is going
to keep undocumented workers from crossing
the border, and she's happy her governor is
supporting her.
"It was neat that he came out to show us
that he's grateful," said Frame, who got a
hug from Huntsman. "It helps with morale
because it shows he's thinking of us and
appreciates us."
Spc. Brad Young, a 31-year-old Utah
National Guard soldier and Tooele police
officer, agreed that having "your
commander-in-chief come down and shake your
hand - that means a lot."
"Any recognition from the big boss
always helps," he said. Young declined to
say whether he supports the building of
fences along the border, saying, "We don't
have opinions, we have orders."
"We come down here to work and do the
best job you can," he said.
Gen. Matthew Whiltington with the Arizona
National Guard is in charge of the two-year
project to improve security on the
Arizona-Mexico border that started with the
Utah soldiers and five from Connecticut
working near Nogales, Ariz., on the border.
He said he expects the federal funding for
the project to be approved this week.
"They've had a great attitude and made
great progress," Whiltington said.
When Mexican President Vicente Fox
visited Utah in May, he stressed his
opposition to walls along the border. Still,
Huntsman said he doesn't think that the
fences will hurt U.S.-Mexico relations "as
long as we work together and understand each
other."
Huntsman also said he has no plans to
communicate with Fox about the fence. Still,
Huntsman said a wall can't be built to cover
the border from Texas to California and he
understands that a fence won't completely
fix the illegal immigration problem, but
will be one of several components, including
sensors, cameras and "boots on the ground."
"We need human power on the border.
That's what we're doing with the [National]
Guard," he said.
jsanchez@sltrib.com
---
The Associated Press contributed to
this report.
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