Arizona Governor: Majority of Illegals under control of Drug Cartels

Making stupid sh-t up about powerless people isn't a sin that's going to get punished very much.

 

Until the rather large group of american citizen children associated with that group of "powerless people" grow up and reach voting age. Interesting times ahead for the southern GOP if they keep these tactics up...

 

She should try crossing the desert in that excruciating heat. She probably wouldn't make it 100 yards with those hoop earings she wears.
My sources tell me that carrying two gallons of water feels like carrying an extra person.

 

This woman would make Sarah Palin look intellegent but not by much....

 

WHAT?!?!?!?! No WAY!!!! This is news to me!!!! I thought EVERYONE who carried drugs did it out of their own SAMARITAN heart!

then :grin:

 

Hopefully the Repups keep this up. Sure will be tough to win national elections if they start down NY, CA and TX.

 

"There's strong information to us that they come as illegal people wanting to come to work. Then they are accosted and they become subjects of the drug cartel," she said.

That is the most racist statement I have ever heard.

 

I KNEW it !!!



DD

 

Many are calling it racist.

I don't think its a huge stretch to connect human trafficking with drug trafficking. It's big business.

http://www.humantrafficking.org/updates/76

Arizona Governor Signs Human Trafficking Bill1
March 2005

Gov. Janet Napolitano on Monday signed a bill targeting "coyotes" and human traffickers who recruit and coerce immigrants into prostitution or forced labor.

Senate Bill 1372 is touted as a significant step in the fight against "coyotes" who have made Arizona a preferred border crossing where immigrants are often left to die in the desert or end up trapped inside temporary homes known as drop houses without food or water and are occasionally beaten up.

It is the first major bill signed by Napolitano this session.

The law gives local authorities the power to prosecute those who smuggle people across the Arizona border, which has emerged as a major transportation route for illegal immigration. It also applies to the human traffickers who transport legal or illegal immigrants to coerce them into labor or prostitution.

It makes human smuggling a Class 4 felony crime punishable by up to three years in prison. It provides stiffer penalties against those who recruit, entice or force a person into prostitution.

Dealing with immigration crimes is the responsibility of the federal government. For instance, Phoenix police alert immigration authorities when they find dozens of immigrants jam-packed in homes.

But under the new law, which becomes effective 90 days after the 2005 regular session ends, local authorities will help with that burden.

Some immigrant advocates reacted cautiously, saying they welcome any laws that protect immigrants but are worried that innocent people may pay the consequences.

Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson and a main sponsor of the legislation, said it specifically defines human traffickers and "coyotes" as those who profit from that activity. He also added that while training might be needed, local law enforcement has long dealt with border issues and thus will know how to carry out the new law.

 

Yes please hurry and move this thing to the D&D so nobody has to see it!

 

Mexican drug cartels move into human smuggling
Mexican traffickers force immigrants to act as 'mules' in bloody battle to control corridor

Agua Prieta, Mexico — At the Center to Aid Migrants in Exodus shelter, would-be immigrants to the United States shared stories of violence at the hands of human smugglers working for drug cartels.

"You used to be able to walk across" the border, said Javier Corazon, 48, who says he lived in Tucson for decades before being deported two years ago. "Now you never know what's going to happen. They may leave you, beat you or worse."

The 30 or so beds at the shelter in this small Mexican town near the Arizona border were filled mostly with Mexicans and a few Central Americans, some of whom remain determined to cross the border.

"The only thing they have to look forward to when dealing with the 'coyotes' is more abuse," said Rosa Soto Moreno, a shelter volunteer.
Immigrants as commodities

As U.S. border security has tightened, Mexican drug cartels have moved in on coyotes, human smugglers who are paid to bring illegal immigrants into the United States. The traffickers now use their expertise in gathering intelligence on border patrols, logistics and communication devices to get around ever tighter controls. They are slowly gaining control of much of the illegal passage of immigrants from Mexico to the United States, U.S. border officials say.

"This used to be a family business. The coyote and the migrant were from the same town; they were connected," said Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez, chair of the department of transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o studies at Arizona State University. "Now, because of the so-called security needs of the border, what's been created is this structure of smuggling in the hands of really nasty people who only treat the migrant as a commodity."

U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Special Agent Joe Romero and other law enforcement officials say the Mexican drug cartels have even merged human smuggling with drug trafficking, forcing immigrants to act as "mules" in transporting drugs as the price of passage.

"The drug cartels have determined this is big business," Romero said as he overlooked a narrow strip of desert between El Paso, Texas, and the nearby Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez. Drug cartels "control these corridors. Just like we're watching them here, they're watching us. ... It used to be, 'Get across the fence and run.' Now it's a lot more organized."

Moreover, crimes committed by drug gangs that have become common in Mexico are now crossing the border, police officials say. Phoenix Police Cmdr. Joe Klima notes that 350 kidnappings were recorded in the city last year, a crime he describes as previously nonexistent.

Another cartel novelty is the numbers of "drop houses" - homes on the U.S. side where illegal immigrants take refuge after crossing the border. Last year, Phoenix authorities discovered a record amount - 163 such sites - according to Alonzo Peña, special agent-in-charge of the Phoenix Office of Investigations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Not surprisingly, Arizona police say there have been numerous reports of violence committed at drop houses, usually when immigrants fail to pay the entire fee. Peña says many typically pay half in Mexico and half after they cross the border.
Phoenix tries new strategy

Klima and Peña say tighter border controls in Texas have made Arizona a more popular spot for crossing the border, forcing them to change tactics. In the past, officials mainly targeted illegal immigrants for deportation. Now Klima says Phoenix police are relying on a new strategy: reaching out to illegal residents for information on the infrastructure behind the human smuggling business.

Some analysts say that program may be in jeopardy after Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon's recent decision to allow police to ask a suspect his or her immigration status - a reversal of a 10-year-old policy - which may make many illegal immigrants reluctant to talk to police. Phoenix is the only major U.S. city that allows its police to ask criminal suspects for residency status.

Meanwhile, drug cartel coyotes from Texas to California are playing an increasingly sophisticated game of cat-and-mouse, of surveillance and countersurveillance, with U.S. authorities, border agents say. When coyotes are caught, violence against U.S. officials is becoming more common. Romero says that even though illegal immigration and crime has decreased in the El Paso area, attacks on U.S. agents have increased by 150 percent.

The rampant violence on both sides of the border has not gone unnoticed by the governments of both nations.

Just last week, Mexican President Felipe Calderon sent 2,500 soldiers and federal agents to Ciudad Juárez to tamp down a bloody drug war. In October, Calderon and President Bush announced the Merida Initiative, a $550 million aid program to help fight transnational crime and drug cartels, and to improve border security. The White House calls the plan a "new paradigm for security" between the two countries.

http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-03-31/news/17169877_1_drug-cartels-mexican-drug-border-security

 

Anyone have any more articles from 2005 or 2008 to contribute to this discussion...?