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Capitol Ideas
How Enviros Obstruct the Border Patrol
Here’s another thing the mainstream media won’t report.
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My wife and I sometimes attend a “wild game dinner” on Capitol Hill. It’s a lot of fun. People interested in environmental issues, some of them employed by congressional committees, almost all on the Republican side, discuss the latest “green” tactics. The basic position of those who attend is that free markets better protect the environment than government ownership.
At the latest dinner I was told something I had never heard before about the Arizona immigration law that has caused so much liberal fury. Why has the illegal immigrant problem been concentrated on Arizona? The mainstream media respond this way:
“As border controls are tightened elsewhere, including through the construction of a border fence in parts of Arizona, California, Texas and New Mexico,” Peter Slevin reported in the Washington Post, “Mexican migrants and smugglers have gravitated” to parts of Arizona near Tucson. The police chief from Nogales was quoted: “When you plug a hole in the wall, the water looks for another spot to flow through. Arizona is that spot.”
But this story, and another in the New York Times (“On Border Violence, Truth Pales Compared to Ideas”), plus almost everyone else, missed the real story: migrants and drug smugglers (marijuana, mainly) are attracted to parts of Arizona for a specific reason. On these federal lands, environmental regulations prevent the Border Patrol from doing its job. That’s what the mainstream media won’t report.
A friend at the wild game dinner put me in touch with Spencer Pederson, Republican press secretary with the House Natural Resources Committee. As best I can make out from what he said, and from the Internet, this story has barely made it into the press, with the notable exception of Fox News. An excellent summary of the situation was presented in a “special ordersot; speech on the House floor by Utah congressman Rob Bishop in mid-June. It can be seen on YouTube.
Over and over again, Bishop makes this simple point. The U.S. side of the 1,950-mile border with Mexico is about 60 percent private land and 40 percent federal. “Almost all” of the migrants and drug smugglers come across federal lands, protected by stringent “wilderness” designations or endangered species rules. The federals are submissive before the environmental regs that interfere with border enforcement. The Border Patrol, a division of Homeland Security, has to complete lengthy environmental reports and get permission from the Departments of Agriculture and Interior before it can do anything. This can take several months.
So yes, there is indeed an Arizona funnel through which the illegals enter. One federal agency works against another to create the funnel. The Mexicans are all but invited to come in and trample down the wilderness, which of course they don’t care about. They actually cut down endangered cacti and lay them across roads to keep the Border Patrol out.
Why do we hear so little about the Texas border? It is 1,250 miles long, or almost two-thirds of the entire Mexican border. The Rio Grande certainly helps, but the main reason is that it is mostly private land. Private owners are capable of patrolling their own borders. The California border is increasingly fenced (fences do work, contrary to rumor), and that leaves Arizona and New Mexico.
Arizona is almost all “protected” federal land, and that means protected from rude incursions by the Border Patrol. In many areas, the Border Patrol people must exit their SUVs and proceed across dangerous and inhospitable terrain on horseback. Or foot.
That’s the story that Congressman Bishop has been trying to tell us. Here’s something from a Fox News story in June:
Border Patrol agents must navigate a patchwork of environmental regulations dating back decades in order to police for drug cartels, smugglers and illegal immigrants-often on foot and horseback in some of the most vulnerable areas of the southwest border.
To unlock the legislative handcuffs, a group of House lawmakers are pushing a bill [authored by Rep. Bishop] that would prohibit the Departments of Interior and Agriculture from taking any action that would “impede border security” on public lands.
A good addendum to this story, by Kevin Mooney, who also contributes to Fox News, was published by TAS online on May 12. He reported that Raul Grijalva, a leftist congressman from Arizona, has, “under the guise of environmental protection,” introduced “legislation that would restrict the movement of border security agents and create safe havens for criminal elements transporting illegal aliens and narcotics.”
Which is already happening, of course. Grijalva wants the enviros to redouble their efforts; Bishop wants to allow the Border Patrol to do its job. Grijalva, who seems to be primarily interested in representing Mexican interests, has also called for a boycott of his home state (Arizona, in case you were wondering). He is “a reliable mouthpiece for the cause of lawlessness on the U.S.-Mexico border,” Mooney wrote.
About the Author
Tom Bethell is a senior editor of The American Spectator and author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science, The Noblest Triumph: Property and Prosperity Through the Ages, and most recently Questioning Einstein: Is Relativity Necessary? (2009).
Letter to the Editor View all comments (35) | Leave a comment
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 9.8.10 @ 7:00AM
Thanks for a great article. I actually learned something today.
Redstateboy| 9.8.10 @ 2:25PM
I really am glad I found this site and that my company hasn't found a way to block it. I learn more in-depth stuff at this site than any other place
Alan Brooks| 9.8.10 @ 8:56PM
Tell it to Codevilla, he and his "latinos are indispensable to this country." DUH! that is the problem-- we are stuck with them.
RCV| 9.8.10 @ 9:55PM
Maybe you should do your employer's work that you are paid for instead of using company computers for your own enjoyment.
Alan Brooks| 9.8.10 @ 10:12PM
You have the soul of a computer.
And your God is POWER,
RCV, power-- you worship it.
michigander_sandusky| 9.8.10 @ 8:12AM
"Common sense is a very uncommon commodity." J.W. McGarvey
Alan Brooks| 9.21.10 @ 5:53PM
The enviros will change their minds when they see crime inter-border crime increasing exponentially.
What a shocker it will be when numerous civilians are killed in border communities.
Louis Jenkins| 9.8.10 @ 8:15AM
Enviromentalism? Has anyone seen the pictures of the trash left behind by the illegals? I'm for preserving the land, but give the border patrol the license to do their job. Stop the illegals, stop the drug cartels. Make Arizona a better place to live.
CopyKatnj| 9.8.10 @ 8:43AM
Then arrest the trespassers under environmental law. Surely littering, destroying cacti and trampling vegetation on federally protected land is a crime. Use the environmental laws against them, send in the Green Police.
Truth On The Border| 9.8.10 @ 10:11AM
The trash is measured in TONS. Until you see it, you can't really imagine it. Most areas are also biohazards because of the human waste.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9iwjitsNyQ
Texas Mom 2010| 9.8.10 @ 10:49AM
It seems that we could use the enviro agenda against them. Why not frame the Border Patrol as a force to protect our wilderness lands from the hoards of illegal aliens trampeling and befouling our formerly pristine border areas??? Stop illegals at the border and save our wilderness! Could have some great billboards showing all the trash and waste left along the route from our border. Maybe with photos of destroyed endangered cacti. And the question: why won't Washington protect our sensitive environment from the invasion of illegals who are destroying it and won't even pick up their trash?
Albert| 9.8.10 @ 11:48AM
I like your idea very much. But you are asking the Bozo Administration to do this, and they simply will not. The Democrat Party WANTS illegal aliens to enter the USA illegally. It is that simple. As long as Democrats hold Congress and the White House, that will not change.
bull-gator| 9.8.10 @ 9:40AM
Sounds to me like Grijalva is on the take from the Mexican government.
Truth On The Border | 9.8.10 @ 9:57AM
This is absolutely right on the mark. Thank you for reporting on this important issue. Senators Bingaman and Udall (both D-NM) are pushing for MORE wilderness legislation along the border in NM (S.1689). It is irresponsible and reprehensible.
Here are a couple videos that detail some of the issues with federal lands and the resulting crime and destruction.
The Harsh Realities Along the Mexican Border (warning – graphic)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c1n4gGnVnY
Trash On The Border
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9iwjitsNyQ
Truth On The Border | 9.8.10 @ 9:58AM
Smugglers routinely rape the women they smuggling into the US. This is another issue completely ignored by the mainstream media and leftists.
The Price of Admission – Wilderness Rape Trees
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5-q3vQZ38o
Rape Trees – A Look At The Numbers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfnEokHStm0
Truth On The Border| 9.8.10 @ 9:59AM
Everyone has seen the signs in Arizona telling American citizens to "keep out" of the wilderness areas, parks, and wildlife refuges in southern Arizona. The danger because of smuggling and drug running is too high to allow U.S. citizens to enter these areas.
Border Wilderness – Too Dangerous for the Public
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY6sPP7m8rA
Realities of Wilderness on the Border – Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvu5HObipbk
Truth On The Border| 9.8.10 @ 10:01AM
And yet the NM Senators, Bingaman and Udall, both Democrats, continue pushing HARD for several hundred thousand acres of federal wilderness designation in southern New Mexico. WHY??? What could they possibly have to gain? They will be duplicating the deadly situation in Arizona. Why could they possibly be pushing this agenda?
The Perfect Drug Smuggling Corridor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVOb0Bsfh3I
The Inadequacy of a 5 Mile Buffer for Border Security
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg7EwacCJiM
Louis Jenkins| 9.8.10 @ 5:04PM
Could it be a chance for the Drug Cartels to move into Southern New Mexico like they have done in Arizona?
Jodi D | 9.8.10 @ 10:03AM
There is a good website with information about the situation on the border
www.peopleforwesternheritage.com
They have a lot of data on the enviros, their agenda, and the situation on the border.
gearjammer| 9.8.10 @ 10:21AM
Winning the house and hope so too senate means we can hold hearings. Now, we can't go overboard like that nut job Waxman, but surely this is just the issue we can calmly and clearly investigate. Let the main stream media pick sides and present idiocy as sound policy. It will only further erode their withering credibility.
dan| 9.9.10 @ 7:13PM
The liberal establishment media won't even cover it.
Anthony| 9.8.10 @ 10:42AM
I think it's time we contact the British and resume the War of 1812, and ask them to complete the job of burning down Washington D.C., that they never quite completed.
Texas Mom 2010| 9.8.10 @ 10:47AM
It seems that we could use the enviro agenda against them. Why not frame the Border Patrol as a force to protect our wilderness lands from the hoards of illegal aliens trampeling and befouling our formerly pristine border areas??? Stop illegals at the border and save our wilderness! Could have some great billboards showing all the trash and waste left along the route from our border. Maybe with photos of destroyed endangered cactus. And the question: why won't Washington protect our sensitive environment from the invasion of illegals who are destroying it and won't even pick up their trash?
Richard| 9.8.10 @ 11:48AM
Remember that enviros are Leftists first.
Steve A| 9.8.10 @ 12:34PM
Lady cutting my hair yesterday tells me how we are causing earthquakes when we drill for oil as the cavity we leave void in the ground collapses. I did not say a word as I did not want my ear cut off but I was sitting there thinking that there is just simply no hope for some of these wackos.
JKS| 9.8.10 @ 2:01PM
I would change hair stylists...
ABNCP| 9.8.10 @ 2:38PM
The American/Arizonan citizens who live within 60/80 miles of the Arizona/Mexico border have for years been under assualt and have pleaded for help from the Federal Government to stop the daily human invasion of those who illegaly cross this border. Ranchers who live in the area have testifed in Arizona courts that on a daily basis military type drug smuggling operations are happening here. Now we have actual pictures of groups with a point man with an AK-47 type of weapon, about a half mile behind are the guards fully armed, about a half mile further back are the mules (people) carrying the drugs, then behind them more guards. And yes, after exiting private property they are going through Federal lands like the Barry Goldwater Bombing range which will take them right to InterState 10 for pick up. These smugglers will bring anyone who has the money across the border. Many of the people coming across the border now are people America should be worried about. Can you say terrorist?? Arizonans who live in these areas live in small ranches and isolated homes.
Many of them feel they cannot leave their houses at night for safety reasons. They feel that cannot leave their homes for any period of time for fear of nothing being left when they come back. This is unbelievable, citizens of this country being oppressed by foreigners in their own country. Come on American, where is the outrage Mr. Obama?? Most Americans have no idea what is going on in Arizona. Parts of Southern Arizona are a war zone.
Janet Icompetano says that the border is now safer that it has ever been. It isn't. She is just a stooge for the Obama administration who wants open borders in order to try and get the block votes from Hispanics that they currently getting from the African-Americans. The Border Patrol cannot be on Federal lands on the border. 20% of Arizona's Prisons population are illegals. Many emergency care units have closed down because they are forced to treat illegals who cannot or will not pay
for treatment. Arizona has the burden of funding state services illegals use. Education costs have risen to over a billion dollars. Our state is broke.
We have a $ 3.5 billion deficit. And the beat goes on. Yet we have politicans like Gmjalva who has let his etnicity overcome his common sense and his patroitism. Roll on November!!
Steve| 9.8.10 @ 3:56PM
The border patrol can go into Big Bend National Park any time, that's not wilderness land. You can see the coyotes on the other side of the river from the park and find the trinkets and things that idiotic American's leave on our side for hikers to buy leaving the money for the illegals coming across. I found two of these trinket/money displays will hiking a short section of the park in March. The things are set up so fact the park service can't confiscate them fast enough without them being set up again in other spots. These morons leaving the stuff for the illegals need to be arrested by the BP just as much as the ones floating across.
Redstateboy| 9.8.10 @ 4:19PM
Ya read articles like this and for me.. I get so damned angry...! Why is our Lame-stream-press so...... Lame!?? The American People should know about this stuff!
Nobama| 9.8.10 @ 4:49PM
Come on, people, they're not Greens, They're REDs! Doesn't everyone know that by now? Doesn't everyone know the Green movement was hijacked to serve as a tool of socialist/communist takeover? Grivalja (sp) was one of the 70 socialists identified in our congress if I'm not mistaken.
T1Brit| 9.9.10 @ 3:47AM
They are WATERMELLONS
green on the outside ...
The Westerner | 9.9.10 @ 12:57AM
Thanks to Tom Bethell and AMSPEC for the article. Most people don't realize you can't even ride a bicycle in a wilderness area, much less a BP vehicle. It's the endangered species that cause the delays on all lands...but in wilderness vehicles and mechanical equipment are strictly prohibited. And as one commenter says, S. 1689 would create more wilderness on the border. In fact Bingaman's bill would designate a quarter of a million acres at or near the border as wilderness. So thanks again to Bethell for bringing this issue to a national audience.
T1Brit| 9.9.10 @ 3:55AM
At what point does it become treason to sit in the government of the USA while taking money and orders from a foreign country whose priorities are hostile to the well being of the country you profess to serve?
Christian Louboutin | 6.23.11 @ 6:19AM
At the latest dinner I was told something I had never heard before about the Arizona immigration law that has caused so much liberal fury. Why has the illegal immigrant problem been concentrated on Arizona? The mainstream media respond this way: