SACPA/PLC Border Security Resolution

The following is a Resolution drafted by SACPA and adopted by the National Public Lands Council:

NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS COUNCIL
April 15, 2013
Securing the United States-Mexico Border at the Border
Whereas, there is a tragic human to would-be workers, especially women, entering the United States which includes traveling as much as a week across our deserts, dying of thirst, suffering with other medical issues, rapes, coyote abuse and bandits;
Whereas, there is monumental environmental damage currently being permitted by allowing crossers to tramp across National Forests, Wildlife Refuges, Wilderness areas, National Conservation areas, and private ranches since current Border Patrol “choke-point strategy” results in an average of 8.5 pounds of trash left by each crosser and miles of paths beaten out through environmentally sensitive habitat;
Whereas, thousands of U.S. citizens living between the border and attempted apprehension sites 5, 10, even 100 or more miles north of the border are currently living in no-man’s land, subject to violence and burglaries;
Whereas, Mexican Cartel scouts are on our mountain tops inside the United States north of the international border and are guiding “human mules” carrying destructive and very socially costly drugs into the U.S. through hundreds of square miles of southern Arizona currently de facto ceded to their operational control;
Whereas, the Government Accountability Office estimates that the Border Patrol apprehends only about 64% of the undocumented border crossers and a Los Angeles Times report reveals that an analysis of Predator Drone Vader surveillance data showed “Border Patrol Agents apprehended fewer than half of the foreign migrants and smugglers;”
Be it therefore resolved that the Public Lands Council advocate that the current Border Patrol strategy of allowing druggers and undocumented immigrants to travel into the United States five to one hundred miles prior to attempts to apprehend the crossers must be changed, and
Be it further resolved that the Public Lands Council support Congressional action to exempt the Border Patrol from the multi-year delays resulting from current environmental law compliance processes to enable effective patrolling of rural areas of the actual border and construction of needed infrastructure within a one-mile strip immediately north and adjacent to the southwestern border in order to secure the border at the border.
***SACPA border ranchers will lead border tours for anyone interested. Please contact us.***