Immigrant traffic picks up in Az

The flow north in January is an annual post-holiday event

CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Tucson Citizen

The annual post-holiday spike in U.S.-Mexico border traffic appears to be in full bloom, despite earlier indications that the federal buildup along the border reduced illegal immigration through Arizona.

Grupo Beta, an immigrant aid group of the Mexican government, estimated that 1,800 to 2,400 immigrants crossed through its checkpoint south of Sasabe every day since mid-January. The figure keeps pace with the flow last year at this time, the group's director, Victor Armendariz, said Wednesday.

Illegal immigrant traffic increases dramatically in early January, when many workers return to the United States after going home for the holidays.

Gustavo Soto, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, said that in the past two weeks, apprehensions rose from about 400 to 500 a day to 1,200 to 1,500 in the sector. It stretches from the New Mexico border to the Yuma County line.