The Tucson Citizen reported that on September 30, at the end of the 2004 fiscal year, the US Border Patrol issued its annual report stating the number of arrests within the Tucson sector of Arizona for illegal crossing of the border.  Within the report, the number of arrests for the year was around half a million for the Tucson sector, a number higher than previous years.

Though the number of arrests per year for the sector has jumped considerably, the number of individuals arrested is much lower, with 325,000 individuals arrested for the sector.  This number brings the logical conclusion that individuals arrested are not first and only time offenders, but have been arrested multiple times, racking up the number of arrests recorded and creating the perception that more immigrants are flooding in the US.

These numbers do not mean that in recent years immigrants have begun to illegally cross the border more often, instead they indicate increased amount of efficiency in performance by the Border Patrol has resulted in more arrests. 

Border Patrol spokesman Andy Adame contributed the increased number of arrests and efficiency to several factors, including the fingerprint ID system distributed more widely to federal agents.  Adame also claimed that Arizona Border Patrol’s plan of hiring new agents and securing urban crossing points known for receiving heavy illegal crossing traffic, has also attributed to the substantial increase in arrests made in the 2004 fiscal year.

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In the Tucson sector of Arizona, conflict has arisen over the need for permanent checkpoints. Border Patrol agents believe they can reduce smuggling attempts, and decrease accidents that result from smuggling attempts, by setting up permanents checkpoints, reported KVOA.  However, in the meantime, Border Patrol agents have to set up temporary checkpoint locations until policy makers decide on the effectiveness of permanent checkpoints.