Stocking shelves and clearing brush, guardsmen serve on border amid political heat
Paul Sonne
6 hrs ago
Apprehensions at the Yuma sector are rising but still historically low.
Previous Slide
Next Slide
Full screen
1/4 SLIDES /Brittany Mayes/The Washington Post
Apprehensions at the Yuma sector are rising but still historically low.
2/4 SLIDES Caitlin O'Hara/For The Washington Post
The fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.
3/4 SLIDES Caitlin O'Hara/For The Washington Post
National Guardsmen hold a morning meeting at the Customs and Border Protection Yuma sector headquarters.
4/4 SLIDES Caitlin O'Hara/For The Washington Post
The fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border casts a shadow in the sand near San Luis, Ariz.
4/4 SLIDES
YUMA, Ariz. —Staff Sgt. Chris Cazares is panting to catch his breath after slicing down a salt cedar on the banks of the Colorado River with one of those orange-handled saws commonly used in school shop class.
A supervisor at a nursing home, the longtime soldier in the Army National Guard was previously deployed twice to Iraq, where he specialized in neutralizing chemical attacks. Now he is deployed to his hometown on Arizona’s border with Mexico. Here, he is neutralizing trees.
Cazares is one of roughly 600 guardsmen serving on the border in Arizona since President Trump dispatched the National Guard last April in support of Customs and Border Protection. Numbering about 2,200 as of early this month, the guardsmen Trump supplied from across the nation answer to the governor of the state in which they are deployed. The active-duty troops the president sent to the border last fall now number about 4,350; they report to U.S. Northern Command.
]Subscribe to the Post Most newsletter: Today’s most popular stories on The Washington Post
Whether Cazares and his fellow guardsmen are needed here on the border has become the subject of a renewed debate that has cleaved along party lines. It has again put the U.S. border with Mexico at the center of national political rancor that is poised to escalate after Trump declared a national emergency Friday, bucking Congress to secure more funding for a wall.
In recent days, the newly inaugurated governors of California and New Mexico, both Democrats, ordered the withdrawal of most guardsmen from the border in their states, suggesting that Trump had deployed the Guard not because CBP is facing a crisis but rather because the president wants to sow fear and appear tough on illegal immigration by showing off uniformed officers in the field.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the deployment a “theater of the absurd” upon withdrawing the bulk of the forces from the border in his state and redeploying them to fight fires and target drugs. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who retained a handful of guardsmen on the border, said her state would no longer abide “the president’s charade of border fearmongering by misusing our diligent National Guard troops.”
The Republican governors of Arizona and Texas, meanwhile, have kept the full National Guard border deployments in their states. Supporters of the deployment say the back-end assistance from the Guard frees up Border Patrol agents to deal with threats from drug smugglers and human traffickers. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, they point out, both deployed the National Guard to the border during their presidencies.
The American military cannot conduct domestic law enforcement activities, owing to an 1878 federal law called the Posse Comitatus Act. As a result, the uniformed personnel are helping in the background rather than dealing directly with migrants crossing the border.
In Yuma, about 100 guardsmen are performing ancillary tasks for CBP — clearing brush, fixing machinery, stocking foodstuffs and monitoring surveillance cameras at the sector headquarters. The idea is to free up border agents previously assigned to those duties so that they can instead apprehend and process migrants.
“It’s kind of a godsend,” said Vincent J. Dulesky, special operations supervisor for public affairs at the Border Patrol’s Yuma sector. “As we were getting strained out, you have the National Guard.”
The 126 miles of Arizona and California border that make up the Yuma sector is a mélange of worlds — tribal areas, military installations, government parks, majestic sand dunes and vast stretches of agricultural land, much of it harvested by Mexican seasonal laborers who traverse the border with work permits. Sometimes described as the sunniest place in the United States, Yuma grows much of America’s lettuce. In a local souvenir shop, one Yuma T-shirt reads: “If you’ve had a salad in the winter, you’re welcome.”
Overall, the number of people apprehended for crossing the border illegally has decreased dramatically from a multi-decade high nearly two decades ago. In the Yuma sector there were 26,244 apprehensions of migrants crossing illegally in the 2018 fiscal year, down from 108,747 [url=https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2017-Dec/BP Total Monthly Apps by Sector and Area%2C FY2000-FY2017.pdf]in 2000[/url]. Across the entire border with Mexico, apprehensions decreased to 396,579 from 1.6 million over the same time period.
Although the number of apprehensions in Yuma are down from 20 years ago, they have more than quadrupled since 2014 amid an influx of families and children, primarily from Honduras and Guatemala, fleeing poverty and violence. The number of border agents assigned to the sector, meanwhile, is roughly the same now as it was in 2014.
The Trump administration says these standards create a loophole that is incentivizing migrants to cross the border with children and remain in the United States illegally after their release.
The administration initially tried to stem the influx of Central American families by separating children from parents who entered unlawfully, prompting a national outcry. Now the administration has moved to terminate the 20-day rule and expand ICE’s family detention facilities.
In Yuma, Border Patrol agents say the changing character of the migration has strained their force. Whereas years ago they tracked mostly Mexican border crossers looking to evade detection, now they say children and families from Central America are showing up in large groups, many requiring medical care after a perilous journey through the Sonoran Desert.
Last month, a group of 376 migrants from Central America crossed into the sector by burrowing under one of the walls erected there during the Bush administration. Nearly half of them were children.
“Every day that we get over 100 in a group is a strain,” Border Patrol agent Justin Kallinger said.
When the sector was apprehending adult Mexican border crossers, agents would detain them for an average of about eight hours and often send them back across the border, Kallinger said. Now, he said, the average time in sector custody is about the 72-hour maximum, because Central American migrants require a flight to get home and often are making asylum claims. Agents must provide transport, hospital escorts and food in the interim, duties now claiming far more of their time.
For relief, they are relying on the National Guard.
“Guard. Boom. Here we are,” says Tech. Sgt. Dan Broughton, a 36-year-old member of the West Virginia Air National Guard, who after four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan is monitoring cameras and sensors in the sector’s surveillance room.
Now staffed by about half guardsmen and half civilian employees, the room no longer has border agents behind the monitors because they were moved to front-line law enforcement roles.
In a supply room across the parking lot, guardsmen surrounded by diapers, bottles, baby formula, emergency blankets, cheese crackers and Cup Noodles have come up with a trolley-cart system to save border agents time while distributing goods to detained migrants.
Closer to the border, Cazares is overseeing about 17 guardsmen on the “vegetation team,” which is clearing brush along a part of the Colorado River that forms the border with Mexico for seven miles.
The goal, he says, is to give migrants coming across the river fewer places to hide and ensure that CBP cameras affixed to nearby towers can scan the area without obstruction. Though most of the sector’s crossers are looking to surrender, the agents say some still seek to evade detection.
Before the guardsmen arrived, about six border agents who have now been moved to primary law enforcement duties took responsibility for taming the brush, Dulesky said.
Whether the Guard is the most cost-effective way to relieve Border Patrol sectors is a question of how to apportion resources and define needs. The deployment is projected to cost the Defense Department about $550 million by the end of September, raising questions about whether the same funds could have gone directly to CBP for additional agents, technology and resources, offering a more permanent fix.
Guard missions tend to cost the Pentagon more than active-duty ones, because guardsmen receive additional pay and benefits when deployed. Most of the guardsmen deployed to Yuma are staying in local hotels; active-duty forces operating in the United States tend to stay on bases.
On Friday, Trump said a bill Congress passed to fund border security this week provided “so much money, we don’t know what to do with it,” just not enough for the wall. The additional funding raised questions about using relatively expensive uniformed personnel to carry out duties such as clearing trees.
On the river outside Yuma, those are faraway Washington concerns.
On the American side, Mexican seasonal workers are harvesting broccoli for American diners. On the Mexican side, the clouds are hovering over Los Algodones, a town nicknamed “Molar City” for its bargain Mexican dentists who fix American teeth.
Cazares is busy getting “down and dirty” with his team, which has cleared more than 165,000 square feet of brush since mid November. He is upbeat, unfazed by a job that can involve laboring under the brutal desert sun.
“Everything has to be cleared out,” the 42-year-old says with a sweep of the hand across the horizon.
The alarm on a mobile phone blares, interrupting Cazares as he extols Yuma’s bean-and-cheese burritos. The chorus of machetes and axes tires into silence, and guardsmen catch their breath. Cazares spins around, “Break!”
paul.sonne@washpost.com
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/stocking-shelves-and-clearing-brush-guardsmen-serve-on-border-amid-political-heat/ar-BBTGB7l?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=U453DHP
Today at 7:29 am by Rocky
» Including the return of 21 wanted persons.. The Iraq Money Recovery Fund counts its achievements in
Today at 7:27 am by Rocky
» The path to development is the criterion between true patriotism and political clowning.
Today at 7:25 am by Rocky
» The file of the Presidency of Parliament is on the state administration table... this evening
Today at 7:22 am by Rocky
» Director General of the International Labor Organization: Many challenges in the world of work and t
Today at 7:20 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The world is witnessing crises that reflect negatively on the Arab and international peop
Today at 7:11 am by Rocky
» Prime Minister: Our government has provided great support for the success of the activities, program
Today at 7:08 am by Rocky
» Al-Asadi: Iraq places the social protection file among its priorities
Today at 7:07 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: Iraq is one of the first countries in the region to join the International Labor Organiza
Today at 7:05 am by Rocky
» In the presence of Al-Sudani and Barzani, the State Administration Coalition holds an “important” me
Today at 7:03 am by Rocky
» Appreciating the presence of Al-Sudani... Director General of the Arab Labor Organization: Here from
Today at 5:29 am by Rocky
» Prime Minister: Our government has provided great support for the success of the activities, program
Today at 5:28 am by Rocky
» Appreciating the presence of Al-Sudani... Director General of the Arab Labor Organization: Here from
Today at 5:26 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The world is witnessing crises that reflect negatively on the Arab and international peop
Today at 5:24 am by Rocky
» The Parliamentary Development Institute organizes a workshop on the political role of the representa
Today at 5:22 am by Rocky
» With Arab and international participation. Tomorrow will be the start of the Fourth Baghdad Internat
Today at 5:21 am by Rocky
» OPEC Secretary General: The end of oil is not on the horizon
Today at 5:19 am by Rocky
» Closing a number of unlicensed offices and companies south of Baghdad
Today at 5:16 am by Rocky
» Repercussions of the bombing...intensive government movements to resume work in the “Kormor” field
Today at 5:15 am by Rocky
» In the presence of Al-Sudani...the opening of the Arab Labor Conference in its 50th session in Baghd
Today at 5:14 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: We are working on drawing future visions regarding the “green and digital” economic secto
Today at 5:13 am by Rocky
» Barzani after the Kormor attack: We are ready to coordinate with Baghdad to put an end to these atta
Today at 5:10 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani directs the formation of an investigative committee into the circumstances of the Kormo fi
Today at 5:08 am by Rocky
» Bismayah is confused about the new electronic portal.. What about the landlord and the subcontracts?
Today at 5:07 am by Rocky
» Kurdistan Government: Loss of 2,500 megawatts of electricity due to targeting the Kormor field
Today at 5:06 am by Rocky
» Crisis in Kurdistan: 12-hour daily power outage and complaints of “confusion”
Today at 5:05 am by Rocky
» The Supreme Anti-Corruption Commission demands Nineveh for the contracts concluded by “Najm Al-Jubou
Today at 5:04 am by Rocky
» Al-Khanjar, Al-Samarrai, and Abu Mazen are hosted by Shaalan Al-Karim to discuss accelerating the se
Today at 5:03 am by Rocky
» Iraq asks the countries of the world to respond to its requests to extradite wanted persons: We have
Today at 5:02 am by Rocky
» “It is coming soon.” The Sudanese advisor sets the date for the referral of the Baghdad metro and th
Today at 5:01 am by Rocky
» Al-Mubarqa: Iraq reserves its full right to respond to the Australian behavior
Today at 5:00 am by Rocky
» Dollar exchange rates on Iraqi stock exchanges... recorded a decline, and this is the list
Today at 4:58 am by Rocky
» Mr. Al-Sadr supports the position of American university students
Today at 4:56 am by Rocky
» Iraqis are ranked 7th in the Arab world on the list of those most seeking immigration to America. He
Today at 4:55 am by Rocky
» The UAE company ADNOC resorts to Iraqi oil. Find out the reasons
Today at 4:53 am by Rocky
» Soon.. 3 new hospitals will open in Baghdad
Today at 4:52 am by Rocky
» Sponsored by Al-Sudani...the opening of the Arab Labor Conference in its fiftieth session in Baghdad
Today at 4:51 am by Rocky
» Al-Shammari chairs a meeting at the controlling headquarters to review the results of the security o
Today at 4:49 am by Rocky
» Arab Labor Organization: We commend Iraq's interest in the Arab Labor Conference
Today at 4:48 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The development road project will provide many job opportunities
Today at 4:47 am by Rocky
» utube MM&C 4/26/24 Iraqi Dinar - US Treasury Exchange Rates- Focus - Banking Partnerships - Rate C
Yesterday at 5:11 pm by Rocky
» Sudanese advisor criticizes Kuwaiti analyzes regarding the development road project
Yesterday at 2:21 pm by Rocky
» Al-Mandalawi stresses the need to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between Iraq and Poland
Yesterday at 2:04 pm by Rocky
» Power maneuvers: America provides defensive weapons to Kurdistan in exchange for withholding from Ba
Yesterday at 10:26 am by Rocky
» Kuwait is drilling an oil well near Umm Qasr, towards Iraqi territory
Yesterday at 10:24 am by Rocky
» In the document... the first Iraqi ministry identifies the obstacles to changing the new official wo
Yesterday at 10:22 am by Rocky
» Italian Institute: Iraq is stuck in its own crises, including Baghdad’s efforts to undermine the “au
Yesterday at 10:21 am by Rocky
» The head of the Integrity Commission announces the holding of an international Interpol conference i
Yesterday at 10:18 am by Rocky
» Planning: Iraqi companies are not efficient in conducting the population census
Yesterday at 10:14 am by Rocky
» utube MM&C 4/24/24 Support - USA- Turkey - Timing- Currency Value - Tabled
Yesterday at 8:08 am by Rocky
» MM&C 4/25/24 National Bank of Iraq goes live with Temenos core banking and payments
Yesterday at 8:06 am by Rocky
» A banking official indicates a "danger" to Iraq by depriving more than half of its banks of dollars
Yesterday at 7:55 am by Rocky
» With the participation of the Association of Private Banks, investment opportunities are on the tabl
Yesterday at 7:45 am by Rocky
» Within a month... an Iranian border crossing recorded a noticeable increase in exports of goods to I
Yesterday at 7:44 am by Rocky
» The Association of Private Banks appreciates the efforts of the government and the Central Bank to c
Yesterday at 7:43 am by Rocky
» Al-Maliki's coalition presents a third candidate for the position of governor of Diyala
Yesterday at 6:57 am by Rocky
» Arab gathering: The Kirkuk problem is getting complicated and the Sudanese must intervene
Yesterday at 6:56 am by Rocky
» Next week.. a Kurdish delegation will visit Baghdad to meet with the Minister of Finance
Yesterday at 6:54 am by Rocky
» Under the pretext of salaries... Al-Party refrains from handing over port revenues to Baghdad
Yesterday at 6:53 am by Rocky
» Association of Banks: For the first time, we are witnessing a clear targeting of depriving half of t
Yesterday at 6:51 am by Rocky
» Parliament does not know the reason for the delay in sending the 2024 budget schedules: Voting takes
Yesterday at 6:49 am by Rocky
» Applicants for the 2024 Hajj are demanding that the Central Bank secure the dollar for them through
Yesterday at 5:09 am by Rocky
» Governmental and private banks will showcase their services tomorrow during Financial Inclusion Week
Yesterday at 5:08 am by Rocky
» Iraq's oil exports rise despite OPEC+ cuts
Yesterday at 5:06 am by Rocky
» A study explodes a "surprise"... Iraq is among the countries that export oil to "Israel": How is the
Yesterday at 5:04 am by Rocky
» Al-Araji emphasizes working to strengthen national identity
Yesterday at 5:02 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani visits Saudi Arabia to participate in the World Economic Forum in Riyadh
Yesterday at 5:01 am by Rocky
» Iraq is talking about producing one million additional liters of gasoline
Yesterday at 4:59 am by Rocky
» The Council of Ministers approves the implementation of the Baghdad Metro project
Yesterday at 4:56 am by Rocky
» Minister of Commerce: We formed a joint economic committee with Türkiye
Yesterday at 4:55 am by Rocky
» Resources: Government measures have contributed to improving the water situation in Iraq
Yesterday at 4:53 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance: Baghdad will continue to send salaries to the region’s employees until settle
Yesterday at 4:51 am by Rocky
» A parliamentarian describes the corruption of Iraqi ports as “ghouls” and reveals the involvement of
Yesterday at 4:49 am by Rocky
» Obelisk Hour: Basra is the subject of political conflict and ambiguity over the fate of the funds al
Yesterday at 4:48 am by Rocky
» Turkmen leader: An agreement on the local government of Kirkuk is near
Yesterday at 4:45 am by Rocky
» Anbar calls for the operation of its factories despite financial obstacles
Yesterday at 4:44 am by Rocky
» Turki: The crisis of the Presidency of Parliament prompted the Sunnis to amend the Council’s interna
Yesterday at 4:43 am by Rocky
» The Agriculture Committee confirms the existence of Iraqi-Turkish-Iranian discussions on water
Yesterday at 4:42 am by Rocky
» Resources diagnose the challenges facing the water file in Iraq
Yesterday at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Parliament pledges to the Interior Ministry: We will transfer money to buy weapons from citizens
Yesterday at 4:33 am by Rocky
» Al-Issawi is the closest.. Parliament sets the date for deciding the choice of the new president
Yesterday at 4:31 am by Rocky
» Deputy: Iraq's investments have risen and need a comprehensive review of previous years
Yesterday at 4:30 am by Rocky
» Iraqis consume 7 billion eggs annually and import about $900 million
Yesterday at 4:28 am by Rocky
» The Iranian role complicates attempts at open cooperation between Iraq and Turkey. Turkey is trying
Yesterday at 4:26 am by Rocky
» Move in Iran to obtain $242 billion from Iraq in compensation for the eight-year war
Yesterday at 4:25 am by Rocky
» 12 decisions from the Council of Ministers regarding the Baghdad Metro and Najaf-Karbala train proje
Yesterday at 4:23 am by Rocky
» Sudanese Advisor: The path to development has begun... the Baka and the militias “we silence them wi
Yesterday at 4:21 am by Rocky
» Not from Kurdistan.. How did Iraq become a source of oil for “Israeli tanks”?
Yesterday at 4:19 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Agriculture criticizes the Sudanese and Erdogan agreement: Türkiye will control water
Yesterday at 4:16 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi government issues new decisions
Thu 25 Apr 2024, 2:35 pm by Rocky
» The story of “reduced oil” to Jordan, from “compulsion” to mutual benefit.. Is there a loss?
Thu 25 Apr 2024, 2:33 pm by Rocky
» The Council of Ministers takes 12 decisions for the Baghdad Metro and the Najaf-Karbala train
Thu 25 Apr 2024, 2:32 pm by Rocky
» utube MM&C 4/23/24 Iraqi Dinar - IQD Update - Development Road Project - Saviour of Global Banking
Thu 25 Apr 2024, 10:18 am by Rocky
» Kidney from pig transplanted into deathly ill New Jersey woman — and begins working almost immediat
Thu 25 Apr 2024, 10:15 am by Bama Diva
» The most difficult option.. Warnings of the danger of floating the Iraqi dinar without achieving an
Thu 25 Apr 2024, 9:48 am by Rocky
» Trade from the “Economic Committee” with Türkiye: It will overcome all obstacles facing the traders
Thu 25 Apr 2024, 9:46 am by Rocky
» Washington's hope for stable relations with Baghdad clashes with Iraqi parties' rejection of the Ame
Thu 25 Apr 2024, 9:41 am by Rocky
» Karim Badr: Development is America’s will to kill silk
Thu 25 Apr 2024, 9:36 am by Rocky
» Oil: Opening of a new port for liquid gas for vehicles in Baghdad
Thu 25 Apr 2024, 9:33 am by Rocky