Agents studying massive US-Mexico tunnel
By Marty Graham

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Federal authorities were trying to determine on Thursday what was smuggled through a sophisticated tunnel into the United States from Mexico they call one of the longest ever found.

"Whether the tunnel was used for smuggling aliens, smuggling narcotics or a worst case scenario, some sort of weapon, we don't know," Michael Unzueta, special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in San Diego, said at a news conference.

Federal authorities, who uncovered the 2,400-foot (731 meter) tunnel on Wednesday, brought in a forensic team to look for fingerprints and DNA, and to sample the air and walls, so they can determine how long the tunnel has been in use and what it was used for, Unzueta said.

The tunnel has cement walls and supporting planks, is no less than five feet (1.2 meter) tall and wide, and runs as far as 60 feet underground, Unzueta said. It has lighting and ventilation, and a pumping system to drain groundwater.

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Mexico Calls Uniformed Men in Border Standoff Imposters

MEXICO CITY — What looked like a Mexican military patrol aiding drug traffickers on the border shocked Texas police.

It was hardly a relief to the U.S. when Mexico announced Wednesday that the men were imposters: It meant that gangs feel free to drive around the border area with military-style vehicles and uniforms

Mexico has become accustomed to traffickers disguised as cops or soldiers.

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Agency drops plans to pass out border maps
FROM STAFF AND AP REPORTS

A Mexican government commission said concerns about civilian border watch groups have prompted it to suspend plans to distribute maps to migrants planning to cross the border illegally.

But the co-founder of one such group in Yuma says it was good idea to drop those plans for a different reason — the maps would make the aliens more vulnerable to border bandits.

Miguel Angel Paredes, the spokesman for Mexico's federal Human Rights Commission, denied Thursday that the map idea was being dropped in response to U.S. criticism.

‘‘This would be practically like telling the Minutemen where the migrants are going to be,’’ Paredes said. ‘‘We are going to rethink this, so that we wouldn’t almost be handing them over to groups that attack migrants.’’

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What our porous border costs you
Feds loath to repay front-line states
GARRY DUFFY
gduffy@tucsoncitizen.com

One cost of illegal immigration is showing up in your house payment or property tax bill - about $30 a year for the owner of a typical home.

Autopsies for illegal immigrants, extra jail room for those who commit crimes and other border-related expenses have put the county's six-year tab for border-related spending at $62.5 million.

"This amount equals 153 fully equipped sheriff's deputies that Pima County had to forgo during that period," County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said recently. During that period, the county's force of deputies was well below the per-person average of comparable jurisdictions, he said.

But while covering essential border-related services is stretching the county thin, federal reimbursement for costs related to inadequate border security amounts to pennies on the dollar, local officials say.