Under Siege: Invasion of Illegals near Tucson

From the Tucson Weekly, Leo W. Banks chronicles what life near the border is like for the ranchers in Arizona. Please read Under Siege. Here's a portion:

You can't name a category of human being--good-hearted or crooked, kind or mean--or a nation, religion or ethnic group that isn't using this border to sneak into America illegally. The numbers boggle the mind. In January alone, the Border Patrol in the Tucson sector impounded 557 smuggling vehicles, confiscated 34,864 pounds of marijuana and arrested 35,704 illegals, according to agency spokesman Jose Garza.

The important number is one they can't pinpoint with certainty: how many got through. But figure it this way, using the common belief that, conservatively, for every arrest the Border Patrol makes, another two illegals make it through: With almost 500,000 arrests in the Tucson sector last year, that means somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 million illegals broke into the country successfully last year--an average of almost 3,000 every 24 hours. And arrests for 2005 are up 10 percent, according to Garza.

Because of the sheer number of illegals--as well as their desperation, their willingness to destroy property and intimidate, and the always-simmering fear--Cowan and husband, Bob Giles, have sold most of their cattle and are significantly scaling back their ranching operation.

Ironically, it's the dems who are taking notice of this problem, getting the jump on what the republicans should have been doing all along. Michelle Malkin blogs about this today.

If the Bush administration doesn't do something about this huge border/security problem immediately, support for him will wain and Sen. Clinton is wasting no time capitalizing on it.

Hat tip to Free Republic for his story.