Border Security

After the outline in my last blog, most of you are probably expecting to read something riveting that I learned about religion on the Mexican border this week. That was my plan. However, I experienced the "border" first-hand this weekend and I feel the need to talk about it.

There has been a lot in the news lately about the controversy of setting up checkpoints in Tucson to attempt to catch more illegal immigrants. In theory, it seems like a great idea because it would allow Border Patrol agents to inspect cars coming in and out of the areas where illegal activity is rampant. However, in reality, I am not sure it could actually work.

There is a method to my madness. This weekend, I traveled to San Diego to visit a friend. Like many money-less college students, I drove because while gas prices are high, it is cheaper to drive than it is to hop on a plane for 45 minutes. Three hours in to my trip I encountered my first Border Patrol checkpoint inside the United States when I tried to cross the Arizona/California state line. After sitting in traffic for five minutes, the patrolman took one look in my car and waived me through the line. I attribute this to the fact that I am a white girl, driving a car that is decked out in University of Arizona parifinalia. Around me, other cars were being waived through with no questions asked as well and it got me wondering what they are really looking for. What are the requirements?

Two hours later and about 90 miles from San Diego, I encountered yet another checkpoint. This one was makeshift, unlike the last one that I had gone through. Several Border Patrolmen were out and about. As I was waiting in line to be "checked", a Border Patrol car sped by me with it's lights on. I am sure it was going to save the day. Again, I was waived through. The car in the lane next to me was sent over to a second checkpoint. As I drove by, I noticed that the driver looked slightly hispanic.

So after this whole ordeal, I got to wondering how effective these checkpoints really are. Are the people who are searched really searched because they are suspected of doing something wrong or because they simply "look" suspicious. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office in a July 2005 report, "Border Patrol does not routinely evaluate the effectiveness of checkpoint operations, or their costs." Interesting...

For more information from the report visit: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05435.pdf

Next week: A tour of "The White Dove of the Desert" and why it is important to 3 cultures in Tucson.

That's all for now!
Allison