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Guard makes border breachings tougherBy BARBARA BARRETT
McClatchy Newspapers

LAS CRUCES SUN-NEWS/NORM DETTLAFF VIA AP
Army National Guard Spc. Gustavo Gutierrez, 23, of Las Cruces, N.M., scans the U.S./Mexico border from the top of Radar Hill, near Columbus in southwestern New Mexico. He is part of Operation Jump Start.
More photosLOS ALGODONES, Mexico — Not five minutes after the boatload of migrants slipped across the Colorado River at dusk, the "dogcatchers" arrived.

First came U.S. Border Patrol trucks, tearing down a dirt road and cutting their headlights. Then the helicopter with its deafening blades, dipping and circling, casting spotlights across the water and the mountainside, again and again and again.

On the Mexican side, above the town of Los Algodones, Francisco Lopez watched and listened. For a month, he said, he’s been waiting. He sleeps under the shade of trees, scrounges food. Three times he almost crossed.

"They’re here day and night," said Lopez, 42, who traveled from the state of Michoacan, hoping to reach New York. "When I got here, I was surprised to see so much force on the other side."

The show of force now includes Operation Jump Start, which President Bush announced in May. About 6,000 National Guard troops are coming to the border, to reinforce the Border Patrol "perreras": dogcatchers.

The deployment is meant to discourage migrants from risking the dash into the United States. The increased security is pushing them into remote areas — including harsh desert and mountains — forcing more to use smugglers and leading those who are caught to make repeated attempts that sap their strength and money. Many walk for days with little food or water.

"Short term, you might see more deaths, because they think they can beat the system," said Lt. Col. Randy Powell, the commander of the North Carolina National Guard’s 252nd Combined Arms Battalion. Over time, he said, the death toll should drop.

The Guard is coming

Word has spread throughout Mexico: The Guard is coming.

"I read the newspapers," said Hector Encinas, 29, who lives in San Luis Rio Colorado, just south of San Luis, Ariz. He used to cross routinely to work in the United States, paying $300 a trip. Now the price is $1,500. He used to help others, but no more.

"It’s more hard right now," Encinas said, standing in the shade near an opening in the border wall where three Border Patrol trucks were parked. "They got a fence, more soldiers, more Border Patrol."

Of the Guard, he said, "They’re cool. They’re cool." He knows the troops aren’t allowed to make apprehensions, just to call in border agents.

Still, in the more urban Mexican crossing points south of Arizona, something has changed.

In Los Algodones, tucked into the crook of the border with California and Yuma, Ariz., the travelers who hope to sneak across the border — known as "pollos," or chickens — gather at dusk in the park.

Fabiola Salazar, 25, figures the smugglers the locals call "polleros" — chicken herders — make up 30 percent of the summer business at her family’s grocery. Every morning, the smugglers buy water and food for the journey.

Lately, she said, business is way down.

Dangerous detours

What sends migrants farther out are the images of the National Guard standing watch. The North Carolina Guard troops are scattered in strategic spots along the western half of the Arizona border, including some posts so distant they’re best reached by helicopter.

Near San Luis, Ariz., the troops work under camouflage nets, setting up observation points every quarter-mile on a levee near the Colorado River, above stretches of dirt and fields of tall, swaying grasses.

The scrutiny is pushing migrants toward a land so vast that travelers can walk three days before crossing a paved road. During heat like last week’s, with temperatures climbing toward 115 degrees, the migrants can’t carry enough water.

The Sonoran Desert is littered with their castoffs: empty water bottles, shoes, jackets. The daytime heat is blistering, and only a very brave man would walk the rugged landscape at night, said the Rev. Robin Hoover, the founder of Tucson-based Humane Borders Inc.

Yet people get through. About 60 miles north of the border lay evidence that Hoover thought came from a recent smugglers’ pickup: Two dozen backpacks were discarded among the cactuses. Some held deodorant or unopened tuna cans; Hoover unfolded a scrap of paper with a Florida hotel phone number scrawled across it.

Because more men are staying in the United States, more are sending for their families. More women and children are crossing.

Migrants pass through the cotton and alfalfa fields around Rebeca Moreno’s store, a quarter-mile from the Colorado River, ignoring the signs warning "Peligroso!" — danger. Pointing across the cotton field, she said in Spanish: "There is the river. The migrants try to swim across."

They’re caught, sent home and try again.

A man died right there, she said, pointing to a spot in the dirt road.

We can ONLY PRAY it keeps getting tougher and tougher every day.

1. Which state is closer to the Pacific Ocean?
a. Georgia b. Oklahoma

2. Monument Valley’s dry landscape is located in Arizona and which other state?
a. Mississippi b. Utah

3. Which state is further south?
a. Tennessee b. Washington

4. The eroded sandstone features of the Badlands are located in which state?
a. South Dakota b. Louisiana

5. Which state is farther north?
a. Wisconsin b. Arizona

6. The North Platte and South Platte Rivers meet in which state?

a. Montana b. Nebraska

7. Which state grows more rice?
a. Pennsylvania b. Louisiana

8. The Appalachian Trail extends more than 2,000 miles form Maine to Which state?
a. Georgia b. Colorado

9. Which state is the country’s largest in terms of area?
a. Alaska b. Texas

10. The Ozark Plateau covers the southwest corner of which state>
a. Missouri b. Wisconsin

11. The United States city with the largest population is located in which state?
a. New Yourk b. Illinois

12. The cape Hatteras lighthouse is located on one of the Outer Banks, sandy islands along the coast of which state?
a. Oregon b. North Carolina

13. Which state has a longer coastline?

a. Virginia b. new Hampshire

14. Most of Yellowstone National Park is located in which state?
a. Wyoming b. Washington

15. The Great Plains and Rocky Mountains are two major physical features in which state?
a. Montana b. Minnesota

16. Which state is farther from the Mississippi River?

a. Indiana b. West Virginia

17. Which state contains large areas of desert?
a. Nevada b. Kansas

18. Which state has a shore line on Lake Erie?
a. Iowa b. Ohio

19. The Hopi Indian reservation is located in what state?

a. Arkansas b. Arizona

20. Which state has a humid Subtropical climate?
a. South Carolina b. South Dakota

1-b
2-b
3-a
4-a
5-a
6-b
7-b
8-a
9-a
10-a
11-a
12-b
13-a
14-a
15-a
16-b
17-a
18-b
19-b
20-a

Print view

Billions at stake in border contract
By Dave Montgomery

McClatchy Newspapers

PREV 1 of 3 NEXT

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff sees a mix of technology and manpower.

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is expected next month to choose an industry consortium to erect a high-tech security shield along the U.S. borders, launching one of the federal government’s most ambitious public-works projects in years.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) calls the proposed Secure Border Initiative Net (SBInet) the "most comprehensive effort in the nation’s history" to gain control of more than 6,000 miles of border with Mexico and Canada, and 2,000 miles of coastline.

SBInet is a centerpiece of President Bush’s efforts to fortify the U.S.-Mexico border at a time Congress is locked in a struggle to revise the nation’s immigration laws. Administration officials say they intend to proceed with the security net regardless of the outcome of the debate over immigration legislation.

The multibillion-dollar undertaking has ignited a contract battle among industry teams headed by four leading defense companies — Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon — and Ericsson, the Swedish-based telecommunications giant with U.S. headquarters in Plano, Texas.

Competitors diverse

Collectively, the teams are composed of nearly 40 companies in more than 15 states, a diverse lineup that includes global engineering firms, niche industries adept at biometric identification or surveillance, and aerospace corporations better known for churning out warplanes, tanks and missiles.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a branch of the DHS, is expected to announce a winner by Sept. 30.

As envisioned by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, SBInet would marry industry expertise with the 42,000-employee Customs and Border Protection to create a wall of technology, manpower and infrastructure in the next six years. The initial cost is projected at $2.5 billion, but the price could be much higher.

The shield is a dominant component of the Secure Border Initiative that Chertoff announced in November to stem the flow of illegal immigrants. More than 1.2 million illegal immigrants were arrested in 2005, nearly all on the southern border.

Although Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Michael Jackson told industry officials the project is "not about simply buying gizmos," much of the attention has focused on the potential mix of technology. Most of the proposals include state-of-the-art sensors, mounted cameras, unmanned aerial vehicles, radar and other surveillance hardware.

Calls for toughening the border have intensified with the approach of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the recent alleged terrorist bomb plot in Britain. But the project has come under heightened scrutiny on Capitol Hill after a congressional report last month blasted DHS procurement polices.

The bipartisan report, released by the House Committee on Government Reform, identified $34.3 billion worth of DHS contracts marred by significant overcharges, wasteful spending or mismanagement. The troubled projects include a largely ineffective camera-surveillance system along the Mexican and Canadian borders.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., complained that SBInet could be exposed to the same problems, contending the DHS is giving industry too much latitude in determining how the system should be tailored. "That’s not governing," he said. "It’s utter incompetence, and it’s going to cost the taxpayers billions."

From the bidders’ vantage point, SBInet could create thousands of jobs and illustrate the defense industry’s expanding transition into homeland security. Tools of war — such as radar and satellite surveillance — easily can be redirected into the campaign to guard the home front, industry officials say.

"We see it as an increasing market," said John Douglass, president and chief executive officer of the Aerospace Industries Association. "Many of the technologies that make you a successful aerospace contractor would also make you a successful homeland-security contractor."

Several of the team members started preparing for the project more than two years ago, when the DHS was considering a since-abandoned border initiative called America’s Shield. Team representatives spent months on the border, and several bidders set up remote border-area test sites to evaluate equipment.

Nearly 60 potential bidders expressed interest in the project before the DHS winnowed the field to the five rival teams. Universities in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona are aligned with several of the teams, reflecting academia’s growing expertise in homeland security and border demographics.

Bidders made oral presentations in the past two weeks and have until Monday to update their proposals.

While SBInet bristles with opportunity, the winning team will face immense obstacles in trying to create a leakproof "virtual wall" traversing rugged desert terrain in the south and mountainous, wooded landscape in the north. The challenges probably will include property-rights disputes and environmental issues.

Sensors and cameras have been operating along the borders for years; the SBInet team will be charged with building a system tying all the pieces together. In addition to technology, the industry team will provide contract personnel for non-law-enforcement jobs and train government agents to adapt to the new system.

Sensors popular item

In January, Jackson urged industry officials to be innovative without straying "onto the wacky edge of creativity." Most proposals call for a network of thousands of sensors that would detect movement, sound and, in some cases, odor.

The sensor then would flash an alarm on a computerized map in a command-and-control center, where an operator would train a long-range mounted camera on the site to determine whether an animal or a human intruder tripped the alarm.

If necessary, agents would be dispatched. Several, if not all, of the teams would augment the protection with unmanned surveillance aircraft and, in some cases, high-altitude surveillance balloons
‘alberto" this is a REALITY that IS going to happen!!!! Get USED TO IT!!!!!! DEPORT ALL ILLEGALS>>>>>>>>>>
SUPPORT HR 4437!!!!!!!!!
Hasta la bye bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hmmmm…..

Looks Good On Paper
Sounds Real Nice

But If It Came Out Of Chertoff’s Mouth
It’s Probably BS

We Can HOPE He’s Not Giving Us Lip Service
But He Probably Is
I’ll Believe Him When I See Fruition Of The "Project"

high-tech Gizmos
radar and satellite surveillance
a leakproof "virtual wall" (LMFAOff)

"Most proposals call for a network
of thousands of sensors
that would detect movement, sound and,
in some cases, odor."

That Sounds Like Area 51
And Even THEY ^ Have A FENCE

Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon — and Ericsson, the Swedish-based telecommunications giant with U.S. headquarters in Plano, Texas.

HaHaHa Who’s He KIDDING
The Contract For ANY Border Developement
Will Go To Halliburton

An Aggressively Patrolled FENCE Or WALL
Would Be More Effective
AND
More COST Effective Than Chertoff’s "Proposal"

What Good Is An "unmanned surveillance aircraft"
Without A Wall Or Fence

Thanks For The Post

Please rate 1=AGH! NEVER SHOW THIS TO HUMAN EYES AGAIN! 10=OMGosh! GEMME MORE!

I remember standing in my living room. I was trying to decide where to hang my new painting of the summer sunset at the beach. It was a magnificent portrait of the landscape that I was able to visit once or twice a year. I marvelled at my own work. I know it sounds conceded, but it looked as though it were a photograph. I found the perfect place, right above the small kitchen window.

I gently set the framed painting on the loveseat before walking to my room to grab the hammer and nail I needed. As I entered the cluttered room, I found my hammer, yet the nail was no where in sight. I sighed in annoyance. I began looking for the nail when suddenly I realized something was different about my room. I stood up and looked around. Every scattered item was still where it was, my bed was still an untidy mess, yet something was wrong. Something seemed out of place. The room was gradually getting darker. I looked out the window and saw storm clouds rolling across the sky at alarming speeds. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists so tight that my knuckles were white.

"P’ragti scientists," I cursed under my breath. I normally didn’t swear like that, but I hated the scientists. They were always tampering with the planets atmosphere like it was some kind of toy and the Coalition just stood by and watched!

I wondered what they were planning to use their weather machine for today. Would it be to fill the canal, or to make a land hurricane? Who cares? Those inconsiderate L’rendons would do something to win over the farmers one way or another. The darkening sky grew black as pitch. Though this used to terrify people, they soon learned that this caused cooling. It was summer and summers were always hot in the desert. The artificial farms tainted the deserts of Arizona after the Coalition came into power.

"Eric?" someone called from within the dark house. I turned to where the voice had come from.

"I’ll be there in a minute, hun," I responded. My darling wife was terrified of the dark almost as much as I was of the Fuhrer.

"Eric!?" she said louder. There was a tone of panic that laced her voice.

"I’m coming," I called to her. As I found my way through my room, I stopped only to find that I had walked into a wall. My chest hit the scanner. I sighed in relief and reached down to press my thumb to the scanner and when I did, the lights flickered to life. I heard a scream of absolute terror. My heart tried to jump out of me as I ran towards my wife. "Julia!? Julia, what’s wrong!? I was too engrossed in my quest to find my beloved that I didn’t notice the blood stains on the arcaidia door. I ran into her room and what I saw made me scream too.

A corpse hung from the roof by what appeared to be it’s own legs. It was Julia. I couldn’t hear my scream over a loud rushing sound. I suddenly realized that the rumors were true. The Coalition scientists had been working on the A.T.D. (Atmospheric Transportaional Device) for years and they had completed it. I knew exactly where I was. They had succeeded in opening the portal between earth and… hell…
Thank you avid reader!

Yes, my grammar is not all that great. I am in a computer class and didn’t have a lot of time to edit. And yes I should have expanded a little more on the science part and been more specific about whether or not he was… a he.

Sorry readers!

wow so far an 8 or 9, is it bad that i expected some really lame story and to rate it a 3 or something. it was surprisingly good and original i mean i read it all the way through unlike most of these type questions. i want to read more! argh you have me hooked!. are you not worried posting this may let people rob this amazing concept you have come up with? but yeah keep writing please you have to finish it.

oh and i nearly forgot as a number one fan and critic of your book so far i think i deserve the first copy of this best seller don’t you?

I love movies that show the landscape of the American Southwest / desert terrain – California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas.

I’m looking for recommendations of movies that are shot in these locations, and that actively portray the landscape. Bonus points for quirky characters! Some examples of movies like this that I’ve seen and loved are "Paris, Texas", "Thelma and Louise", "Easy Rider", and "Breakdown".

I love road movies, psychological thrillers, strong atmospheres, and weird or eerie occurences. Wild west movies will be okay if they are more character driven than action-based (i.e. "Johnny Guitar"), although I would appreciate any recommendations! Many thanks for your help!

Raising Arizona (Filled with quirky characters about a cop and her husband/boyfriend who is always in trouble with the law kidnap a child because the woman had 6 of them and think they wont miss one. It’s a comedy.)

Into The West (Mini Series).

Maverick (Mel Gibson film, it’s cute).

Kalifornia

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NWG-DVD-109 – An extensive, scant desert landscape surrounds the Petrified Forest National Park east of Arizona. In the middle of the desert-like Badlands is one of the U.S.A.’s most
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A small series of videos to help the average person take on the task of having a custom designed swimming pool built. Weighing the pros and cons of hiring a company verses sub contraction the work themselves.

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