BP warns residents to be wary of illegals

By Jim Lamb, Green Valley News
Published: Saturday, February 16, 2008 10:19 PM MST

Thousands of illegal aliens cross Southern Arizona every day, and some are probably violent criminals, a high-ranking Tucson area Border Patrol agent told a Green Valley audience Friday.

Roger San Martin, chief of the Tucson station, Darcy Olmos, head of training operations, and Lisa Reed, community relations director for the Tucson Sector, outlined some of the tough jobs the Border Patrol faces daily in a talk to the Solano Homeowners' Association meeting.

The Tucson station is one part of the Tucson Sector, which includes most of Arizona, and is headquarters for about a dozen stations.

The Tucson Sector is the busiest Border Patrol sector in the United States with up to 1,200 illegal aliens arrested a day. The Tucson station accounts for 200 to 400 arrests a day.

San Martin said many of the illegal crossers are probably poor people hoping to find work and a better life in the United States, but he said there are many criminals that also come across.

He said it's legal to give thirsty and hungry people food and water, but the threat of criminals among the illegals is great. “The degree of desperation” of some of those is such that “these are not people you’d want to take into your home.”

He added “they have no regard for human life at all.”