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08-27-05, 03:19 AM
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050827/ap_on_re_us/border_bulldozing
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The governors of New Mexico and its southern neighbor, the Mexican state of Chihuahua, agreed Friday to bulldoze or board up abandoned buildings in a sparsely populated border town that is a haven for would-be immigrants and smugglers.
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Gov. Bill Richardson and Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza also said they hoped to establish a police presence to end lawlessness in the dusty Mexican community of Las Chepas, which is considered a staging ground for the migrants and drug and human smugglers.
Reyes Baeza said he also would instruct law officers on his side of the border to fine unlicensed bus operators who ferry would-be immigrants 15 miles along a dusty washboard road along the border to Las Chepas.
Friday's agreement was a partial victory for Richardson, who had asked Reyes Baeza to raze the town.
Both governors said they would allocate state funds and ask their federal governments for more money to help. For his part, Richardson said construction on a $60,000 fence in nearby Columbus, N.M., an official port of entry, has begun.
Richardson also has pledged to fund 15 additional sheriff's deputies for Luna and Hidalgo counties, which sit on the border. And the governor sent six state police officers to work along the border.
Richardson and Reyes Baeza also pledged renewed cooperation in law enforcement efforts, including sharing intelligence.
Friday was the governors' first meeting since Richardson, citing growing violence, declared a state of emergency in New Mexico's four border counties earlier this month.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano declared a similar emergency in her state.
Las Chepas is home to only about 35 full-time residents. Border Patrol agent Rick Moody said agents monitor the area with a tower-mounted camera and watch as a daily caravan of old school buses and vans haul people into the town.
When the migrants head north across the border, they often are jumped by "border bandits," Moody said.
"They tell them to just keep walking north and don't look back," Moody said. "We've tried to apprehend some of these bandits."
But there are just too many places to hide and too few roads in the area, he added.
For Leopaldo Castillo Rodriguez, 66, Las Chepas is more than a trouble spot a stone's throw from the border. He and his wife have lived there for 22 years and don't ever plan to leave.
As he surveyed his front yard this week, complete with a lush and blooming rose bush, he said he didn't understand why Richardson would want to demolish the town.
"It would be the same, if it wasn't here," Castillo said of the situation.
Looks like a step in the right direction.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The governors of New Mexico and its southern neighbor, the Mexican state of Chihuahua, agreed Friday to bulldoze or board up abandoned buildings in a sparsely populated border town that is a haven for would-be immigrants and smugglers.
ADVERTISEMENT
Gov. Bill Richardson and Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza also said they hoped to establish a police presence to end lawlessness in the dusty Mexican community of Las Chepas, which is considered a staging ground for the migrants and drug and human smugglers.
Reyes Baeza said he also would instruct law officers on his side of the border to fine unlicensed bus operators who ferry would-be immigrants 15 miles along a dusty washboard road along the border to Las Chepas.
Friday's agreement was a partial victory for Richardson, who had asked Reyes Baeza to raze the town.
Both governors said they would allocate state funds and ask their federal governments for more money to help. For his part, Richardson said construction on a $60,000 fence in nearby Columbus, N.M., an official port of entry, has begun.
Richardson also has pledged to fund 15 additional sheriff's deputies for Luna and Hidalgo counties, which sit on the border. And the governor sent six state police officers to work along the border.
Richardson and Reyes Baeza also pledged renewed cooperation in law enforcement efforts, including sharing intelligence.
Friday was the governors' first meeting since Richardson, citing growing violence, declared a state of emergency in New Mexico's four border counties earlier this month.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano declared a similar emergency in her state.
Las Chepas is home to only about 35 full-time residents. Border Patrol agent Rick Moody said agents monitor the area with a tower-mounted camera and watch as a daily caravan of old school buses and vans haul people into the town.
When the migrants head north across the border, they often are jumped by "border bandits," Moody said.
"They tell them to just keep walking north and don't look back," Moody said. "We've tried to apprehend some of these bandits."
But there are just too many places to hide and too few roads in the area, he added.
For Leopaldo Castillo Rodriguez, 66, Las Chepas is more than a trouble spot a stone's throw from the border. He and his wife have lived there for 22 years and don't ever plan to leave.
As he surveyed his front yard this week, complete with a lush and blooming rose bush, he said he didn't understand why Richardson would want to demolish the town.
"It would be the same, if it wasn't here," Castillo said of the situation.
Looks like a step in the right direction.