Kyl Secures Border Security for Arizona

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee adopted a measure on March 9, 2006 authored by U.S. Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to provide over 200 miles of fencing and vehicle barriers along Arizona's border with Mexico. "The new fencing and vehicle barriers authorized in my amendment will provide much stronger border security for Arizona," said Kyl. "It will make it much more difficult for smugglers and illegal aliens to gain entry, significantly reduce crime rates in border towns, and preserve fragile desert lands and archeological resources which are impacted by illegal pedestrian and vehicular traffic." The measure adopted to the Immigration and Nationality Act, will replace all aged, deteriorating, or damaged primary fencing (includes unsightly "landing mat" fences) with double or triple layered "see through" fencing in Arizona population centers along the border. It would also extend that fencing no less than two miles beyond main population centers, and then add at least 200 miles of vehicle barriers to areas that are known transit points for illegal cross border traffic. The population centers include the Tucson Sector (Douglas, Nogales, Naco, and Lukeville) and Yuma Sector (Yuma, Somerton, and San Luis), which are high traffic areas for illegal crossings and critical junctures to major interstates. In 2006 so far, over 142,029 illegal aliens have already been apprehended in the Tucson Sector, and 55,369 illegal aliens in the Yuma Sector. "Nearly half of illegal aliens crossing the southern border of the United States enter through Arizona in the Tucson and Yuma Sectors," said Kyl. "Fencing works. The construction of a triple layered fence in the San Diego Sector has clearly done a great deal to reduce the flow of illegal immigration and drug smuggling in California." Border Patrol statistics indicate that 565,581 aliens were apprehended in the San Diego Sector in 1992, which constituted 47 percent of illegal immigrants apprehended by the Border Patrol that year. After construction in 2005, 126,913 aliens were apprehended in the San Diego Sector, which was just ten percent of the total number interdicted by the Border Patrol. "It's important that we target our limited resources to the critical sectors of our country that will result in the greatest impact to stopping the flow of illegal crossings," added Kyl. "Providing the Tucson and Yuma Sectors with fencing and vehicle barriers will accomplish exactly that." An additional Kyl measure was also adopted late Wednesday that would reimburse states and localities with the costs associated with capturing, detaining, and transporting illegal immigrants. Sen. Kyl serves on the Senate Finance and Judiciary committees and chairs the Republican Policy Committee. Visit his website at www.kyl.senate.gov.