Border Patrol, safe-border group square off in Tubac

Border Patrol officials reiterated at a Tubac community meeting Wednesday that despite public opposition and construction delays, the Interstate 19 checkpoint is both necessary and effective in combating drug and human smuggling from Mexico.

“We hear you and we understand you when you say you don’t want a permanent checkpoint in Tubac,” John Fitzpatrick, Tucson Sector division chief, said of plans to expand the temporary stop under the Agua Linda Road overpass to a $27 million permanent post.

Nevertheless, Fitzpatrick said there is a critical operational need for the checkpoint. He said the I-19 corridor has been ravaged by drug cartel smuggling in part because of “years of vulnerability created by restrictive policies on our checkpoints.”

The temporary checkpoint has been in place since 2007, when a rule, championed by former U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., expired requiring the Border Patrol to change sites every two weeks.

Since the checkpoint has been in use, Fitzpatrick said, drug cartels have had to forego the highway and use tunnels, ramps and low-flying aircraft to sneak drugs into the country.

“They would not be resorting to these tactics if we weren’t making a difference,” he said. “As we continue to get better at what we do, we will continue to push traffic out of the corridor, and that’s what we intend.”

But Nan Stockholm Walden, owner of Farmers Investment Co. and a member of the Coalition for a Safe and Secure Border, said the checkpoint pushes illegal activity off the highway into towns and neighborhoods.

Its effectiveness is unproven, she said, especially since there is no way to tell how much drug activity it doesn’t catch.

Walden said the area would be better served with stronger enforcement at the border, roving checkpoints that utilize the element of surprise and more accountability.

“We need to know that these massive investments that are made will pay off,” she said. “Our major concerns continue to be that after 30 years of checkpoints, the smuggling continues along the border.”

The Tubac Chamber of Commerce called the meeting to update residents about checkpoint developments.

The permanent checkpoint’s completion date is open-ended, said Al White, Border Patrol agent in charge of the Nogales station. But construction on a $1.7 million interim upgrade, to include a modular building, a canopy and a paved inspection lane, has been delayed until May, after an internal audit revealed the need to review structural and security issues on the facility.

White said the agency didn’t know permanent design standards had to be applied to a temporary facility.

About 150 people listened as Border Patrol agents showcased this year’s historic marijuana busts in the Tucson Sector, which contains most of Arizona. More than 1 million pounds of pot have been seized this fiscal year, the most seized ever in any sector.

Agents at the I-19 checkpoint were responsible for confiscating about 37,000 of those pounds and also found 40 pounds of cocaine, 24 pounds of methamphetamines and 6 weapons, according to the Border Patrol. They also seized 222 vehicles involved in smuggling and arrested 461 illegal immigrants and 226 U.S. citizens involved in smuggling.

The crowd packed into the Tubac Community Center was by-and-large unconvinced of the post’s effectiveness, however, and spontaneous outbursts rebuking the officers marked much of the meeting, which was broadcast live by KGVY radio.

In a question and answer session, residents voiced wide-ranging concerns, including the need for comprehensive immigration reform, sluggish patrol response times, ineffectual dispatch operators and a negative public perception of Tubac that the checkpoint projects.

“I feel like a potential criminal every time I pull up there,” said Judith Noyes, a Tubac resident. “As an American citizen, I am offended that I have to be questioned and stopped when proceeding from one point in the United States to another.”

Ann Groves, a Tubac shop owner, said the checkpoint deters business to a community already hard hit by the economic recession. She’s been asked by potential patrons whether they need to bring a passport to travel to Tubac, she said.

“The commerce of Tubac has been affected,” she said. “Yeah, the economy is affecting us, but we felt it long before.”

Several people — patrol agents and residents alike — voiced anticipation for the Government Accountability Office report, set to be released next month, that will outline the effectiveness of checkpoints.

On Thursday, the ACLU of Arizona is sponsoring a discussion on the civil liberties implications of checkpoints from 3-5 p.m. at the Joyner-Green Valley Branch Library, 601 N. La Canada.