THE BORDER REPORT

I'd hate to be a cop in Arizona about now. The Arizona state Senate just passed a bill that requires cops, under threat of lawsuit, to enforce federal immigration laws. I blame the Feds; particularly Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano. The bill makes it a misdemeanor to be an illegal immigrant in Arizona. It requires cops to check immigration status if they develop a reasonable suspicion that a person is in the country illegally. The bill, Senate Bill 1070, passed 35-21 in the Arizona House of Representatives last night. Among other factors, it requires cops to enforce federal immigration laws if they believe a person is in the country illegally. They're not supposed to use race to develop reasonable suspicion but how could they avoid using the color of a man's skin as a preliminary determinant? Police departments can also be sued if they don't comply with the new enforcement powers. Of course, they can also be sued for racial profiling if they can't prove that race wasn't the only factor in pulling up to check the papers of a man. And they can be sued if citizens think they're not enforcing immigration laws. Arrest warrants no longer apply, either. If a cop thinks a person committed a crime worth being deported over, they won't need to obtain a warrant. You may disagree, but in my opinion, the new rules, expected to be approved by Gov. Jan Brewer, create two classes of human being in Arizona and God help you if a cop thinks you might fit into the second class. I also don't dismiss the new rules as mere racism. In fact, I put the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the U.S. government. I've been writing about the issues that have turned Arizona into the North American concourse it has become since 2003. Again and again and again, federal ineptitude and corruption have taken over the issue. You have U.S. Border Patrol officials who capitalize on increased enforcement budgets to line their own pockets. They have taken per diem kickbacks from flooding sections of Arizona with new agents needing places to live (Douglas, Ariz.). They have sold technology contracts worth millions to companies run by their own daughters (Naco, Ariz. and  El Paso). They spend money needlessly on armored personnel carriers (Tucson). They have engaged in phenomenal projects like the virtual tower mess that they then paid millions of dollars into for years only to pull back at the end and scrap the entire program (Southern Arizona). U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, for years, allowed local cops like the Phoenix Police Department to manage their own affairs at a time when the city was being inundated by hundreds of home invasions, narco-executions and kidnappings every year. The Feds waste their time and resources chasing drug mules through central Arizona while Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada's familymembers attend schools in Phoenix. A regional drug trafficker for the Juárez Cartel, Adán Salazar Zamorano, recently purchased a home in north Tucson, about ten miles from me, in fact. They neglected the entire southeast corner of Arizona at the border with New Mexico and Chihuahua since 2006. That neglect culminated in the murder of a good man, a rancher in the area, last month, Robert Krentz. Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano has held the administrator position for more than a year now. As former governor, Napolitano knew of the failings of federal law enforcement in Arizona. I can't begin to count the number of times I interviewed her on the matter of the lack of federal involvement. As governor, she also vetoed bills like this one numerous times, saying the border was a federal issue. Well, Janet; now what? Now you're a Fed. You leave 388 miles of lateral border between Tucson and Yuma Sectors bereft of new ideas and new technologies, applying the same enforcement standards as your predecessor, standards that failed then and failed now. The only difference is that at the time you were the governor and could dismiss bills like 1070 as racism, politicking and douchebaggery. You knew where this headed, especially when you accepted the new appointment, leaving the Republican, Brewer, in charge of Arizona. Esta gente no tiene vergüenza.

THE BORDER REPORT

Mexican and Arizonan officials are negating that an arrest has been made in connection with the shooting death of Robert Krentz. We'll just have to be patient and see what happens over the next few days.

Krentz, 58, was a long-time rancher in Arizona's southeast region on the border with New Mexico and Sonora. On March 27, he was found shot dead astride his Polaris ATV, his dog dying by his side. Sheriff's deputies suspected illegal migrants or drug mules because he had sent a garbled message to his brother earlier saying something that sounded like "illegal alien" and "hurt."

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THE BORDER REPORT

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THE BORDER REPORT

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps is no more. The Arizona Daily Star's got the scoop on the story here. But there's another armed group floating around down on the border (I mean, besides the Sinaloans). Federal agents have received complaints from hunters in Southern Arizona of being accosted by armed white men in camouflage who told the hunters they are with the Department of Homeland Security, sources say. They weren't affiliated with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, but law enforcement doesn't know yet who is driving this group, what their members are like, and what their motives are.

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THE BORDER REPORT A group of  restrictionists who last year saw one of their supporters arrested for the murder of a Mexican-American family in Southern Arizona, plans a return to this border armed with guns and rhetoric. SonoranNews.com, a conservative Web site in Arizona, reports that the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, plans to come down to the border armed with rifles this time and will "forcefully engage, detain, and defend our lives and country from the criminals who trample over our culture and laws.” Led by Chris Simcox, an L.A. transplant to the Arizona border a decade ago, the group has attracted vast interest from the world media; mostly, I'm convinced, because reporters wanted to see them shoot an illegal migrant. Faced with criticism and skepticism, the Minuteman Project scaled back its initial operations in 2005, saying they were only going to observe and report illegal border activity to the U.S. Border Patrol and that volunteers would only be allowed to carry handguns. When that endeavor failed to attract much attention, the group, now divided amongst itself, turned to raising funds by claiming to erect Israeli-military-style fencing to stop the smugglers. All I ever saw was a barbed wire fence that went up near the Ladd Ranch around Naco, Ariz. Then there were problems with the money; as a non-profit organization, the group seemed to have claimed and spent most of its reported cash but former group members quit the group anyway, saying they were uncomfortable with how money questions were handled. Then there was the incident with Shawna Forde, a former Minuteman supporter who had appeared alongside group leaders (who then distanced themselves from her), now sitting in prison awaiting trial on a double murder for a home invasion she was accused of pulling last summer. With two of her cohorts, Forde is accused of rushing a home in Arivaca, trying to steal a suspected drug trafficker's money. They are accused of murdering Raul Flores, his nine-year-old daughter, Brisenia, and an attempted murder on Brisenia's mother. Sometime before that, Simcox had said he would run against Sen. John McCain; then pulled out of the race and is now backing J.D. Hayworth. Carmen Mercer, one of Simcox's supporters, tells SonoranNews.com: "This March we return to the border locked, loaded and ready to stop each and every individual we encounter along the frontier that is now more dangerous than the frontier of Afghanistan.” Well, it's spring time on the border; the weather is gorgeous, wildflowers blooming, soft breezes and cool desert air. Get ready for a fresh influx of reporters, talking heads, RVS, American flags, lawn chairs and talk. Lots of talk. I hope, for their sake, the Minuteman volunteers don't encounter a group of Sinaloan desperados. We will see. And Chris, you'll remember what happened the last time I ran into your Minuteman volunteers when they tried to stop me demanding identification. It wasn't pleasant for them then and it's going to be even less pleasant this time. Keep them boys alert, Chris. The border's changed.