INS PLANS TO LAUNCH CRACKDOWN ON UNDOCUMENTED MIGRATION IN SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA

On October 8^th, the INS announced the pending implementation of “Operation Safeguard” in the southeastern region of Arizona.  This program is already in effect along most of the US-Mexico border and involves the use of increased numbers of Border Patrol agents as well as fences, spotlights and high-tech equipment to patrol the border.  The focal point of the implementation will be Douglas, Arizona, a small border town that has seen dramatic increases in the number of migrants over recent years.

This increase is due in large part to increased security on the rest of the border.  As programs focused on San Diego and El Paso tightened the border there, migrants moved toward Arizona.  As security has increased, the area around Douglas is one of the last without an overwhelming Border Patrol presence.  During fiscal year 1999 agents in Douglas made over 202,000 apprehensions, four times the number made in 1995. 

Also, beginning on December 1, 1999, the US and Mexico will institute an expanded visa-free visitor zone, reaching northward in Arizona to Tucson.  It will allow Mexicans who possess border-crossing cards to enter the US and visit Tucson for up to 72 hours without requiring them to fill out registration forms.  It will begin as a pilot program to last only one year, and will apply to entrants only at Nogales, Douglas, Naco and Sasabe.  Tucson city officials expect a boom in tourism to result, generating as much as $53 million a year.

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