Tour reveals dynamics, efforts along border

Guest Opinion:
TIM BEE
Published: 03.29.2007

As Arizonans continue to debate illegal immigration, it is important that lawmakers and citizens understand the dynamics of our border communities and the agencies involved in their security.

I hosted a tour this month to give legislators a firsthand view of border operations and efforts to secure our border.

The 2,400 National Guard troops stationed in Arizona are building and repairing roads, fixing and erecting walls and lighting, repairing vehicles and ultimately relieving the Border Patrol of its nonlaw-enforcement work to allow more time to focus on enforcement of federal immigration law.

The National Guard members act as observation teams, the eyes and ears of the detection operation.

In a year, they have identified 316,000 possible illegal immigrants. This is akin to the entire city of Chandler coming into our country illegally. Of this number, 36,000 had criminal records in the United States.