Agents respond to traffic, patrol closer to the border
Agents respond to traffic, patrol closer to the borderArizona Daily Star
A homeowner grabbed his handgun when he heard noises at about 1 a.m. coming from downstairs at his house in a Cochise County farming community, about 10 miles south of Willcox.
He found a man standing in front of his open refrigerator who fled when the homeowner yelled at him.
Later, Cochise County sheriff deputies and Border Patrol agents found 14 men in the country illegally hiding on top of a nearby hill. Three had entered the home to look for food and were charged with burglary and theft. Human smuggling charges were also filed against two of them.
As border enforcement increased in more-populated areas such as Douglas and Nogales, often protected by tall fences and Border Patrol agents driving up and down the roads, trafficking — of people and drugs — started to shift to rural areas.
For years, ranchers and residents in Cochise County asked the Border Patrol to be closer to the actual border.
More than half of the Border Patrol apprehensions in the Tucson Sector are made five to 20 miles from the border. About the same number — nearly 30,000 arrests — are made within five miles from the border or more than 20 miles from it, 2011 data obtained by the Government Accountability Office show.
In May, the Border Patrol responded to the community’s request by opening a new Forward Operating Base southeast of Douglas, about three miles from the border.
He found a man standing in front of his open refrigerator who fled when the homeowner yelled at him.
Later, Cochise County sheriff deputies and Border Patrol agents found 14 men in the country illegally hiding on top of a nearby hill. Three had entered the home to look for food and were charged with burglary and theft. Human smuggling charges were also filed against two of them.
As border enforcement increased in more-populated areas such as Douglas and Nogales, often protected by tall fences and Border Patrol agents driving up and down the roads, trafficking — of people and drugs — started to shift to rural areas.
For years, ranchers and residents in Cochise County asked the Border Patrol to be closer to the actual border.
More than half of the Border Patrol apprehensions in the Tucson Sector are made five to 20 miles from the border. About the same number — nearly 30,000 arrests — are made within five miles from the border or more than 20 miles from it, 2011 data obtained by the Government Accountability Office show.
In May, the Border Patrol responded to the community’s request by opening a new Forward Operating Base southeast of Douglas, about three miles from the border.
