State of Emergency

In August 2005, the Governor of New Mexico declared a state of emergency in the three counties in which the state lines of New Mexico border Mexico. Up until this point, New Mexico had never been a major crossing point for immigrants or drug smuggling. But, as patrols have become increasingly tighter in other areas along the border, such as Tucson, Arizona, the Palomas/Columbus area became a quieter and easier place to smuggle people and drugs. In the Tucson area the number of agents patrolling the border region was reported to be 2,000 compared the 100 agents in the Deming/Columbus area. This shift in migration points is very apparent from everyone we have talked to on both sides of the border. It is hard to say when it actually started but the noticeable increase is as recent as the last year or two. Even now one could see the appeal of the region and why it was a good choice on the part of the would-be migrants and the smugglers. The police station in Columbus is tiny and closed at night. In Palomas, it is not much bigger and they only have five officers on duty at any given time. Declaring a state of emergency has unlocked millions of dollars, which are now being put towards increasing the number of agents, putting up long-range cameras all along the border, as well as other technology used to patrol the border.

The issue of border security has reached the Federal level and legislation has been proposed to build a fence along the entire U.S.-Mexico border and to make entering the U.S. without proper paperwork a felony. I believe that the House of Representatives has already approved 700 miles of fence to be built along the 2,000-mile border. There are already fences up in high traffic areas, such as California. Border security and preventing illegal immigration is gaining much momentum now as the issue is now presented as one of national security and anti-terrorism, whereas in years past it was viewed as more of an economic issue.