Sierra Vista Herald: Why not a Border Patrol Auxiliary?

The Sierra Vista Herald - located very near Arizona's border with our "friends" to the south - supports the idea that Washington shot down last week. See "DHS squashes Border Patrol auxiliary idea" for the backstory.

From "Editorial: Why not enlist civilians?":

...We think a Border Patrol civilian auxiliary, similar to the Arizona Rangers or the Coast Guard Auxiliary, would be a good outlet for many civilians looking for a way to participate in the ongoing battle against illegal immigration. The Coast Guard Auxiliary, for example, helps with non-law enforcement programs such as public education, vessel safety checks and safety patrols.

The civilians in a Border Patrol auxiliary would need to be trained to help the everyday agents, and they need to go through background checks. They couldn't carry weapons, but they could help do some jobs, on a volunteer basis, that may free up more agents to tackle the border situation.

Duties could be helping with education campaigns or paperwork. Maybe they could help be eyes and ears in neighborhoods that request extra assistance due to problems with illegal immigrants.

We don't think auxiliary members should be actively pursuing illegal immigrants. That needs to be left to the Border Patrol agents who are trained to deal with illegal immigrants...

The way this comes across may not be the way it's intended. I'm not surprised that the cheap labor lovin' Bush administration put the kibosh on the idea, but I also wouldn't be surprised if they came up with a make work plan of some kind just to keep their pro-borders, pro-America opposition busy. I'm sure the SVH isn't just proposing busy work, even if it might sound like that to we cynics.

Immigration2005b · Sun, 07/24/2005 - 07:37 · · Importance: 1