Border Patrol Prevented From Securing U.S.
Under the current administration of President Barack Obama, national security and public safety are taking a backseat to so-called environmental preservation, a policy that led to the recent murder of an Arizona rancher
The U.S. Interior Department prohibits routine patrols and operations conducted by Border Patrol agents along the Mexican border on roads labeled “land managed.”
The Mexican national entered the U.S. through the 2,300-acre San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge and subsequently escaped through it after gunning down rancher Robert Krentz a few weeks ago, according to the report.
For years, Border Patrol agents have been prohibited by the U.S. Interior Department and the U.S. Forest Service from actively patrolling such areas because it threatens natural resources, according to GOP members of the Natural Resources Committee Republicans.
House National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee Ranking Member Rob Bishop (R-UT) announced that Republican Committee staff have confirmed with both Border Patrol and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the criminal who killed Arizona Rancher Robert Krentz both entered and exited the U.S. through federal land on the San Bernardino Wildlife Refuge.
The San Bernardino Wildlife Refuge is a 2,300 acre area in Arizona managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS,) an agency of the U.S. Interior Department, that shares three miles of the border with Mexico. This is one of the areas that Border Patrol has been unable to effectively monitor due to environmental regulations enforced by Department of Interior land managers.
According to a 2009 letter from the FWS, Border Patrol only has emergency vehicle access to this refuge. The FWS defines emergency circumstances only when human life, health or safety of persons in the areas must be immediately addressed.
Furthermore, Border Patrol access for emergency purposes is limited to established roads.
As a result of Border Patrol’s inability to properly monitor this area, illegal traffic is moving through the refuge on nearly a daily basis.
“Department of Interior is using the land laws, the Wilderness Act, the Endangered Species Act as their trump card, which takes precedence over anything that border security may want to do, and that’s what has to be stopped. We have to change where the priority is—to securing the borders, stopping the drugs, stopping the human trafficking, stopping the terrorists. That should be our number one priority and number one concern,” said Rep. Bishop.
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.
He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer and columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. Kouri appears regularly as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Fox News Channel, Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, etc.
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on Monday, April 19th, 2010 at 7:09 am and is filed under Media, Science & Nature, Sex & Metropolis.
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