THE BORDER REPORT

Southern Arizona has lost its only non-profit asylum program, and while its overseers try to get other non-profits to take it over, none has so far. Talked to Charles Monroe, president and CEO of Lutheran Social Services, yesterday; he says 40 people came in seeking asylum last year and of those, 18 were granted while another 20 received protected status as their cases are being reviewed. "Seventeen will be completed before the program is not a part of Lutheran Social Services" says Monroe. "We're not telling anybody, 'hey, Thursday night is our last night,' that's not what this program does." The Asylum Program ran at a budget of $165,000; translated over 40 cases last year, it's costing about $40K to see an asylum case run through. Monroe says Lutheran Social Services is talking to other ngos to see if they'll take the program over, but none have stepped up yet. It's too bad, I've met some great people over the years in the program. African and Colombian nationals fleeing political persecution have come through and made their home here. So have some Iraqis. So have Mexicans fleeing narco-threats. Blame it on a shaky economic climate or a lack of federal funding, but this is certainly not a step forward for anyone.

THE BORDER REPORT

I don't know what the El Paso sector of the U.S. Border Patrol is expecting to be coming at them from Juárez, but I guess it was only a matter of time.

The agency is now taking bids for armored personnel carriers at this sector along the U.S.-Mexico border. I found their Request for Proposal during a routine check of federal government bids and I must say, I'm not sure what the Border Patrol needs these things for but who didn't see this coming? In the swinging-dick world of law enforcement acquisitions, I'm a little surprised we didn't already have these along the border.

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THE BORDER REPORT

I'm going to try something new this weekend; I'm engaging in a content sharing agreement with a major Sonora newspaper, Expreso, to see if we can get this case of the missing American taken a bit more seriously by the Feds, both Mexican and U.S.

The American papers and The Associated Press don't appear interested.

Expreso has a story about the disappearances and the ensuing discussions taking place between the U.S. Consulate and Sen. John McCain's office up on their site and their reporters tell me they're going to push for state police to take the case more seriously than they have.

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THE BORDER REPORT

Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Relations released its tally of illegal migrant deaths this year, saying 117 of its citizens have died trying to cross into the United States.

My, have times changed.

As little as two years ago, the Mexican consulates in the U.S. were absolutely clamped shut when it came to trying to discern how many people had died. I can recall spending hours at the Mexican consul’s office in Tucson, arguing for the data; and occasionally, they would relent, giving me partial numbers to get me the hell out of there.

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THE BORDER REPORT

This is a bit of a mystery, one I don't know the answer to yet. But asking questions is half the reason this Web site exists.

Was last week's release of a Border Patrol agent's alleged killer a gross error by the Feds or some sort of secretive backroom negotiations?

The accused killer of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in western Arizona was freed by a Mexican judge after that judge received no requests from the U.S. for the accused’s extradition or arrest.

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