L.A. Times Pooh-Poohs Border Security

See, "Border Surge Proposal Has Many Skeptics":

BISBEE, Ariz. — When George Joyal saw a group of people who appeared to have crossed the border illegally sneak by his land recently, his first call was to the Border Patrol.

Joyal, 67, a retired U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer, gave the agent his location, then hurried outside with the cellphone to his backyard and made himself visible to a border surveillance camera perched atop a tower half a mile away.

"I see you," the agent said.

Moments later, Border Patrol agents zoomed up in a cloud of dust to detain the group. Joyal said there's no need for Congress to spend billions beefing up border patrol.

"I don't see that as giving us more security," Joyal says. "It's impossible to be 100% secure. Just how safe are you going to get and at what price?"

The Senate appears ready to approve immigration legislation next week providing a $30-billion boost in security along the U.S.-Mexico border, doubling the number of Border Patrol agents, but some experts and border residents like Joyal are skeptical that the buildup would pay off — even those who supported similar surges in the past.

The Border Patrol already has more than 20,000 agents. Last fiscal year, border-related agencies received about $18 billion in funding — more than the FBI, Secret Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, Marshals Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives combined.

In Arizona, the federal government has spent billions fortifying the border with fencing, drones and more than 5,100 Border Patrol staff. It has paid off, with border apprehensions all along the border down to an all-time low of 356,873 last year, compared with 1.6 million in 2000.

Joyal said federal authorities needed to better manage staff they already had by moving agents from northern checkpoints closer to the border and relying less on fencing.

"We don't need more people," he said. "We need the proper employment of resources."

Bisbee Mayor Adriana Zavala Badal says most people in town think there are already too many border agents.

"You feel like you're always being looked at and watched. It's a nuisance," she said.

She still can't get used to the Border Patrol helicopters that hover overhead.

"You feel like you're in a war zone. It's noisy," she said, and "that's just with one helicopter."

Well, hey, they keep coming.

At the video, a secret camera shows drug smugglers coming over the border, although that $4.8 million figure sounds a little astronomical.

The border's not secure.

This is all pro-amnesty baloney. Even the Wall Street Journal's got the fever. See, "The Border Security Ruse."