Washingtontimes.com
Nearly 140 new federal agents will be assigned to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona this year to protect against terrorists, a rising flood of illegal immigrants, and drug and alien smugglers, said border czar Asa Hutchinson.
"We are taking on the protection of our borders with a new agency at a time of a real national threat to our country, but we are up to the task," said Mr. Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security at the Department of Homeland Security.
"The potential for terrorists or others to do us harm after crossing into the United States is significant and we must focus on the mission at hand: To protect our borders by enhancing our technological abilities, increasing our intelligence capabilities and readjusting priorities to make us more effective," he told The Washington Times.
His comments came after a two-day Blackhawk helicopter tour of much of Arizona's 400-mile-long international border, during which he assured trade association and community leaders that protecting the border did not mean stopping the free flow of trade and commerce into the United States.
Posted by Suzanne at March 20, 2003