On May 4^th, Border Patrol agents caught 118 illegal border crossers in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Pima County, Arizona.  Some persons in that group said that they had entered with smugglers through Sonoyta, Sonora at the western edge of Pima County and they were headed towards Phoenix and Los Angeles. 

On the same day, a currently unidentified Mexican man in his twenties died in a car crash five miles north of Ajo.  The remains of another Mexican man who died of heat exposure 10 miles southwest of Ajo, and two other skeletal remains were found over the prior weekend.  Since October 1, 2003, officials have recovered the bodies of 33 illegal border crossers.

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Esi Antobam, who pleaded guilty in February to one count of mail fraud and admitted she had smuggled undocumented immigrants into the US and falsified immigration documents, was sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison last week. Antobam succeeded in illegally receiving nearly $100,000 in benefits as a result of her schemes.  In one of her plots, she adopted three children who she sent to Ghana while continuing to collect benefits for them here in the US. 

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David Aguilar, the newly appointed Border Patrol chief, told the Associated Press last week that his main goal is operational control of the borders.  According to Aguilar, more border security is needed on all four frontiers.  His plan includes coordination efforts between agents, increased mobility to hard to reach areas, and enhanced technology and infrastructure. 

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The Arizona Daily Star reported last week that the U.S. Border Patrol is now using remote-control planes to search for illegal border crossings on the Arizona-Mexico border.  The two drones are not the first to patrol the border, as a private group known as the American Border Patrol has been using similar, yet smaller versions for the past year.  They claim that the smaller, less expensive drone program will provide an independent assessment of the U.S. border patrol’s effectiveness by informing the public of their results via the internet and will help the agency to be more effective in policing the border.  The U.S. Border Patrol has so far ignored the private group’s effort.  

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The Tucson Citizen reported last week that U.S. Border Patrol is increasing its efforts to protect the lives of those who dangerously try to cross into the U.S. through the desert.  In previous years, more undocumented immigrants have tried to cross into the U.S. through the desert because the implementation of a policy aimed at stemming the illegal crossings in border cities. 

According to Border Patrol statistics, 1,971 migrants have died attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexican border since 1998.  Because of critics’ claims that the policy has increased the death toll of migrants, the U.S. Border patrol is implementing the following programs this year: a public advertising campaign in Mexico is warning people of the dangers of desert crossings; ten rescue beacons located in the desert; and horse patrols to seek out migrants in distress.