PHOENIX, Aug. 19 (UPI) – The governor of Arizona and her counterpart in Sonora, Mexico, plan to coordinate efforts to fight drug trafficking and illegal immigration on the border.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has been voicing frustration with federal officials in helping with U.S.-Mexico border issues, the Arizona Republic reported Friday. She and Sonora Gov. Eduardo Bours said they were setting up plans to combat “coyotes” who smuggle people across the border and the smugglers who take drugs across.
Napolitano said she was ordering 12 Department of Public Safety officers to an auto-theft task force. Stolen cars are often used in border smuggling. She is also targeting fake identification cards.
The Arizona governor recently sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff complaining of “lack of urgency” on the federal level that is creating an urgent situation in Arizona, the Republic said.
Napolitano this week also followed the lead of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who declared the border a disaster area, allowing funds to be used to fight illegal immigration and smuggling.
Source: United Press International
MONTERREY, Mexico – The U.S. and Mexican governments on Wednesday announced a bilateral effort to help authorities identify and prosecute migrant smugglers working on their common border.
The program, dubbed "OASISS," will facilitate the exchange of information and evidence to assist both governments in the prosecution of migrant smugglers and help save migrant lives, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner said in a statement.
"By exchanging critical information, coordinating enforcement operations and jointly targeting cross border criminal activity we will yield a more safe and secure border," Bonner said.
OASISS stands for Operation Against Smugglers Initiative on
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. ambassador to Mexico now says he should have used "different phrasing" rather than saying he closed a border town consulate partly to punish the Mexican government for not stopping violence there, according to the State Department.
Spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday that Ambassador Tony Garza's real reason for closing it was to protect Americans working there.
Garza closed the U.S. consulate in Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Texas, during the first week of August following dozens of drug-related killings, the assassination of the police chief and a city councilman, and a machine-gun, grenade and rocket
Belize and Mexico talk border security issues
Diplomatic ties between Belize and Mexico are strengthened tonight thanks to a bi-lateral programme designed to curb illegal activities in border areas. News Fives Janelle Chanona has the details.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Today more than forty Mexican and Belizean law enforcement officials met in the old capital for a round of technical talks on national security strategies.
Gerald Westby, Police Commissioner, Belize
We have a memorandum of understanding that directs this action plan. Once we have set out this action plan, we have a timetable. Well place a timetable on the action plan and well start to work
Mexico calls for migrant plan, not troops at border
Mexico on Thursday called for immigration reform that was "orderly and respectful of human rights" after Arizona announced plans to expand the presence of the National Guard on the Mexico-U.S. border.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano issued an executive order on Wednesday expanding the number of National Guard troops operating on the border with Mexico to fight illegal immigration.
"They are there to provide support to civilian law enforcement at the border. They are not there to militarize the border. We are not at war with Mexico," Gov. Napolitano said in comments published on Thursday
Fewer Arizona families going to Mexico during Christmas break
PHOENIX Fewer families seem willing to take their annual Christmas trek to Mexico if they aren't in the U-S legally.
And that means fewer children are missing school when classes resume in January.At most schools, the break starts Friday and ends January 9th.Three years ago, principals could expect to be missing as many as 30 children after winter break. Now, they say it likely will be fewer than a dozen.Sean King of the Border Patrol in Tucson says fewer families seem to try to cross illegally at Christmas because tightened security at the
Cardinals can take ugly play to Mexico - literally
When the Arizona Cardinals announced they would play the 49ers in Mexico City, a smattering of Cardinals fans grumbled. They wondered why a team that had only three victories away from home in the past three seasons would choose to hit the road.
As it turns out, the Cardinals might have done their fans a favor. Another road game spares the fans from paying to watch the same sorry act.
Heading into Sunday's game against the 49ers, Arizona is 0-3. It was supposed to be different this year. With a commanding coach in Dennis
Two more busted gun trafficking to Mexico
Two more men were arrested in Arizona, part of an ongoing investigation of a gun trafficking operation selling arms in Mexico, the Arizona Daily Star reported.
The arrests of Antonio Moran, 20, and Francisco Coronado, 28, bring the number of detainees to seven in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigation.
ATF agents in Arizona said some 84 assault rifles were sold to Mexican nationals over the last few weeks. Officials said they thought the weapons were being used by Mexican drug smugglers or those helping illegal aliens enter the United States.
US says migrant deaths at record on Mexico border
Deaths of illegal immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border soared to an all-time high in the past year, as a brutal heatwave killed hundreds in the remote Arizona desert, the U.S. agency in charge of border security said on Monday.
The U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection said at least 464 immigrants died crossing the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border during the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, a rise of 43 percent on the previous year and the highest number since records began.
Spokesman Mario Villarreal, speaking in a phone call from Washington, said well
Welker to travel to Mexico line
A contingent of Colorado lawmakers plans a fact-finding tour in Arizona next week for a firsthand look at the impact of illegal immigration.
“The cost of illegal immigration to Coloradans is enormous,†said Rep. Jim Welker, a Loveland Republican who’s one of at least three Colorado GOP House members making the trip.
“We cannot stand by and watch the pocketbooks of Colorado taxpayers and law-abiding immigrants drain while they carry the increasing burden of supporting illegal aliens,†Welker said in a Wednesday statement.
“The pressure on our schools, our prisons, our health care system and other taxpayer-funded services
Palo Verde Generators start crawl from Mexico
PHOENIX Drivers are advised to avoid a king-size caravan carrying nuclear-plant equipment through southern Arizona this week.
Two gigantic flatbed trucks are each carrying an 806-ton steam generator. They're already headed north through Mexico from Puerto Peqasco (pee-KAHS-co), where they were delivered by barge. At a snail's pace, the convoy will travel along Arizona 85 from Lukeville to Gila Bend, then on local roads west of 85 heading north toward the plant.
The convoy is expected to reach the border as early as today, but will take another two weeks to reach Palo Verde near Tonopah
