The Assoicated Press
LOS ANGELES—The U.S. Border Patrol is exploring ways to involve citizen volunteers in creating “something akin to a Border Patrol auxiliary,” Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner said.
The move, disclosed Wednesday in an Associated Press interview with Bonner, would be a significant shift in rhetoric after a high-profile civilian campaign this spring along the Arizona-Mexico border. Bonner said his agency has focused on citizen involvement after noting how eager volunteers were to stop illegal immigration.
“It is actually as a result of seeing that there is the possibility in local border communities, and maybe even beyond, of having citizens that would be willing to volunteer to help the Border Patrol,” Bonner said. “But with some training and being organized in a way that would be something akin to a Border Patrol auxiliary.”
“We value having eyes and ears of citizens and I think that would be one of the things we are looking at is how you better organize, let’s say, a citizen effort,” he said.
Posted by katie at July 21, 2005