By Brandi Grissom, Austin Bureau
The El Paso Times
AUSTIN — Illegal border crossings in Texas have dropped dramatically — 75 percent in the El Paso sector alone — in the past four years, a decrease that proves the $2 billion border fence between Mexico and the United States is a not needed, a coalition of border leaders said Wednesday.
“In Texas, we are securing the border with more Border Patrol and smarter enforcement,” said Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster, chairman of the Texas Border Coalition. “We don’t need a fence.”
While U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say the fence is an important part of the strategy to keep illegal immigration down, the coalition argues that the data show the expense is a waste.
The coalition, which has opposed the border fence, analyzed Customs and Border Protection data from 2005 to 2008. Apprehensions of undocumented immigrants in Texas, where the fencing is minimal, dropped more than 50 percent in those years, according to the coalition’s analysis. Meanwhile, in areas of California where fencing exists, the analysis showed an increase of 28 percent.
“The Texas Border Coalition has consistently said that border walls and fences won’t work,” Foster said. “Illegal crossers go over, under, through and around them.”
In the U.S. Border Patrol sector, which includes Hudspeth and El Paso counties and all of New Mexico, apprehensions fell about 75 percent, the analysis showed. In 2005, the region saw more than 122,000 apprehensions, and in 2008 the number shrank to about 31,000.
Illegal crossings in other areas in Texas also dropped, the coalition said.
Marfa had a 47 percent drop, Del Rio had a 70 percent decrease, Laredo had a 41 percent drop, and the Rio Grande Valley had a 43 percent decrease.
El Paso Border Patrol sector spokesman Doug Mosier said apprehensions of undocumented crossers in the area had fallen about 60 percent between Aug. 2007 and Aug. 2008.
More agents, more technology and more infrastructure, Mosier said, have helped deter illegal immigration.
So has the agency’s efforts in certain areas to prosecute everyone who crosses illegally.
“Will it remain that way?” he asked. “We don’t know. We can only be hopeful that we will continue to see reductions in illegal activity along our area of the border.”
The border fence, Mosier said, is one component that will help ensure future reductions.
The fence not only prohibits traffic but also prevents attacks on border agents, Mosier said.
“There’s no doubt that the fence is effective in changing the crossing patterns,” he said.
Bill Lovelady, a cotton farmer in the Lower Valley, said he’s noticed fewer undocumented border crossers on his property.
But he said stopping the fence in Texas because of decreasing traffic would be “idiotic.”
“If you just leave this thing wide open,” he said, “as soon as someone on the other side perceives it’s to their benefit to come across, they’ll just come across.”
Brandi Grissom may be reached at bgrissom@elpasotimes.com; 512-479-6606.
U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions (El Paso: 2005-08)
2005: 122,624
2006: 122,256
2007: 75,464
2008: 31,109
Copyright 2008 El Paso Times, a MediaNews Group Newspaper