The Border Patrol's immigration checkpoint on Interstate 19 in Tubac was the main topic when Leslie Lawson, patrol agent in charge of the Nogales Border Patrol Station, spoke in Tubac to about 50 members of the Santa Cruz Valley Citizens Council on Oct. 17.
Drug-sniffing dogs, the questions agents are authorized to ask of drivers who pass through the checkpoint, the large number of marked Border Patrol cars parked there, and sending semi trucks to the left lane were among the topics discussed.
"Even though our station is in Nogales, we have a very large presence in your community," she said. She travels through the checkpoint daily as she heads home to Green Valley and said she doesn't have more than a two-minute wait in line.
Even so, she said she knows many people would prefer that there is no checkpoint on the highway. "I understand there are strong feelings about securing the border at the border," she said.
Lawson talked about the need for a multi-layered enforcement strategy since the border area is so rugged with mountains and desert. She said that presidential aspirant Michele Bachmann's pledge to build a double fence along the border is questionable. "I'd like to see that attempted in the Tumacacori Highlands," she said.
"It costs a minimum of $1 million a mile to build a fence, and that's when you have a road to get to" the area, she said. "Can you imagine building a road to get to the border to build that fence - in this economy? I don't personally feel that's the best use of our taxpayers' dollars."
Lawson explained that the location of the checkpoint was not chosen without thought. The main reason is that there is no through frontage road between exits 40 and 42 for people to easily go around the checkpoint. She said it's also one of the narrowest parts of the Santa Cruz River Valley. "It allows us the tactical advantage."
Simply because the checkpoint is 24 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, that doesn't move it outside of the border region. "One hundred air miles is still, technically, the border. Right now, we can set up a checkpoint within 100 air miles of any border," she said. "There are parts of this country where we are at the 100-mile mark," she said, but didn't provide examples.
Dogs, safety, quest
Border Patrol receives numerous questions about the drug-sniffing dogs at the checkpoint. Lawson said many people think the dogs are trained with food but "they are not. They are trained with a special toy they only get then. They think they are looking for the toy. The toy just happens to smell like drugs, or like a hidden human they can't see. Their noses are so sensitive, that if they can smell three different people but only see two of them, they will alert," she said.
One question posed by a meeting attendee was why the Border Patrol directs semi-trucks to use the left lane through the checkpoint. One of Lawson's agents replied that it's for officer safety. He said if the semi truck is in the right lane, it would block the view of working agents and they couldn't see what was happening in the other two lanes.
Another question put to Lawson was regarding the 10 to 15 marked Border Patrol vehicles parked on the frontage road daily next to the checkpoint. "It looks like a small motor pool," the person said.
"We have cut that down to the minimum we need," she said. Before the policy was changed, agents had to report to the Nogales station even if they lived north of Tubac. They would pick up their work vehicles and drive back to the checkpoint.
"We decided to station the vehicles (at the checkpoint) and have everybody come to the checkpoint. That alone saved the Nogales station $300,000 in gasoline. It also gave us an hour on either end for deployment time, so you have more people roving," she said.
Several people told Lawson that they don't believe a Border Patrol agent should ask any follow-up questions if a person says they are a U.S. citizen and that appears to be the truth.
Lawson responded, "They're going to ask for your citizenship. They may ask you something else. A dog alerting, that is probably cause to send you to secondary" for more inspection. "We will attempt to locate the source of that odor."
She said many of the agents are new to their job and so "we're working with our legal department as to what they can, and cannot say, and how best to resolve a situation when a person is unwilling to cooperate with questions.
"If you have a situation where you feel the agent on primary has not treated you the way you feel you should be treated, ask to speak to a supervisor immediately. They are on duty 24 hours a day. They're trained to deal with your situation right there," she said. "If you don't feel that was resolved, then ask that supervisor to refer you to the public affairs office for a formal complaint."
Opposition remains
Jim Patterson, second vice president of the council, said, "I don't want you to mistake the courtesy (shown at the meeting) for any belief that we're accepting this checkpoint. There are many here who are opposed to a permanent checkpoint."
A small group titled Coalition for a Safe and Secure Border was formed several years ago to research the effectiveness of checkpoints and to talk with government officials to find alternatives to a large permanent checkpoint on Interstate 19.
Some business owners in Tubac, Rio Rico and Nogales have complained that the checkpoint deters tourists from traveling south of Green Valley.
Santa Cruz Valley Sun
