Border Patrol making changes for a safer area   

By Jo Moreland
For The Alpine Sun 

     ALPINE—The duties of U.S. Border Patrol agents have changed in the San Diego area, but their overall goal continues to be making the region safe for residents and business.
     Rodney S. Scott, commander of the Brown Field Border Patrol Station in Chula Vista, outlined how his agency is achieving that mission at the May 11 monthly Hot Topics Business Networking Breakfast meeting of the Alpine Mountain Empire Chamber of Commerce.
      The Border Patrol was absorbed in 2003 into the U.S. Customs and Border Protection unit of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Scott told Chamber members and guests enjoying a great breakfast at The Vine Restaurant at 2502 Alpine Blvd.
     “Now we have to deal with terrorists possibly entering the U.S.,” Scott said.  “We’re just responsible for anything crossing the border . . . whether it’s entering the country or exiting.  Obviously illegal immigration is our biggest duty still.”
     However, the Border Patrol is much better situated today and no longer working in the vacuum that existed before 2003, he said.
     One out of every three suspected illegal immigrants arrested in the San Diego region has a criminal record, according to the Border Patrol.
With the agency’s focus now on anti-terrorism, Scott said, every person apprehended is run against the terrorist watch list.
     He said recent Border Patrol operations may have forced drug cartels in Mexico to fight for new territory south of the border. The Mexican government, Scott noted, is now stepping up its drug enforcement. 
Effective Border Patrol tactics to protect 60 miles of border and 90 miles of coastline in the San Diego area have forced smugglers to use different strategies, including coastal routes, he said.
Meanwhile, said Scott, the agency has shifted its resources away from interior enforcement and inland check points to places closer to the border, south of Interstate 8, or along the coast. 
New resources
     And under Operation Stonegarden, the official said, the Border Patrol is working with state, local and other federal agencies to provide a coordinated deterrence to crime. 
     Operation Stonegarden is a federal assistance program that funds overtime and additional personnel for local law enforcement, so they can stay on top of the crimes they normally pursue. 
“We do not ask state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration,” Scott emphasized.
He explained that having the additional resources provided through Operation Stonegarden helps deter all crime in the region, which improves business opportunities. 
     “People are more willing to shop, live in the area,” said Scott, who also is acting deputy chief for the Border Patrol‘s San Diego Sector. 
     Arizona hot spot The U.S.-Mexico border in the San Diego area is much different now than in 1994, when Operation Gatekeeper was started to stem a huge, chaotic influx of illegal immigrants and illegal drugs coming across the San Diego-Tijuana border.
     That year Border patrol agents in the San Diego area apprehended 432,563 illegal immigrants ---- more than a third of all the 1994 apprehensions along the 2,000-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border.
     By fiscal year 2009, that number had dropped to 118,721 apprehensions, thanks to more agents, double fencing, sensors and other efforts in the San Diego Sector that forced illegal immigration into Arizona and places farther east.  
In an attempt to cope with increased illegal immigration problems now in Arizona, that state has passed a controversial new law. It allows police to detain anyone they have a “reasonable suspicion” is in this country illegally.
    “The hot topic today is obviously the Arizona law,” Scott said in response to a question.
     He said that Arizona is supporting federal law. Other states and cities have traditionally refused to do that, Scott said.
For more information about the Chamber or its events call (619) 445-2722 or visit www.alpinechamber.com.     

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