Permanent checkpoint at Amado dropped

In a letter dated Thursday to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., Chief Robert W. Gilbert of the Border Patrol Tucson Sector said the agency had reassessed the location of the interim checkpoint and the size of the permanent facility.

The change came in response to recommendations made by a group of residents who spent more than four months studying the issue, Gilbert said.

Instead of opening an interim facility at kilometer post 50 near Amado — as the Border Patrol said in early July it would do — the agency will operate north of Tubac at kilometer post 41.5 or 42, about five miles to the south, where it has been manning a checkpoint since November, Gilbert said.

"After revisiting proposed site locations, the sector has determined the interim checkpoint will best serve the operational requirements of the Border Patrol and the concerns of the surrounding communities by remaining at kilometer 42 or just south at kilometer 41.5," Gilbert wrote. "This will ensure that operational adjustments and technology investments already made at the kilometer 42 site will continue to contribute to the effective mitigation of traffic associated with the checkpoint."

Currently, agents there stand beneath an overpass for cover from sun and rain, use cones to guide traffic and use a trailer as an office. But the agency plans to begin converting that checkpoint into a more stable interim facility, said Richard DeWitt, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman.

It remains unclear, however, if the agency will construct the interim facility there that it had planned for near Amado.

That plan included the construction of a 110-by-120-foot canopy and was expected to cost about $2 million. It was to be used for three to five years until the agency gets the funding and permits needed for a permanent checkpoint on I-19.

The Border Patrol remains committed to building a permanent checkpoint on I-19 but the location is up in the air, DeWitt said. Kilometer posts 50 or 51 — near Amado — are unlikely sites, he said.

"We're not committed anywhere," DeWitt said. "We are still searching for a suitable location."

In the letter, Gilbert wrote that he thinks the agency will be able to build a permanent facility smaller than a checkpoint in Laredo, Texas, that had been used as a model.

"I would like to reassure you that although our office has not identified a location for a permanent checkpoint facility, that we will seek to minimize the size of the footprint to the extent possible while maintaining the operational ability to effectively and efficiently facilitate legitimate traffic."

Giffords called the change of plans a major concession that shows the Border Patrol responded to concerns from her and from residents in the I-19 corridor that the facility should not be located in a densely-populated area.

"It means that the Border Patrol has discarded its plan to build this large, Laredo-style checkpoint that had concerned so many citizens," Giffords said. "It also means that it's being moved closer to the border."

On Aug. 21 at the final public forum hosted by a group organized by Giffords to study the issue, two committees in the group offered conflicting opinions.

One committee studying the checkpoint delivered a full endorsement, deeming permanent inspection stations efficient deterrents to illegal immigration and a necessity to prevent terrorism. Another committee researching alternatives expressed its total opposition, citing doubts about the effectiveness of permanent checkpoints.

Giffords has stopped short of pledging unconditional support for a permanent checkpoint. On Thursday, she said she supports it only with conditions: that it be stationary, allowing for smooth traffic flow, and be located away from a major population center, equipped with technology and personnel, and accompanied by public-safety plans for nearby communities.

Checkpoints are an important tool for Homeland Security and are effective in making arrests and drug seizures, Giffords has said. "I know this outcome isn't going to make everyone happy, but I'm very concerned about where Southern Arizona is in terms of the smuggling of people and drugs."

Some residents in the I-19 corridor have criticized Giffords for not taking a firm stance.

"What took her so long to make a decision?" said Jim DiGiacomo, executive director of the Greater Green Valley Chamber of Commerce.

He is among a large contingent of residents who oppose permanent checkpoints, saying they would be ineffective and detrimental to business, and would push smuggling activity into their neighborhoods.

"Putting it anywhere on I-19 is like putting a Band-Aid on a severed thigh," said DiGiacomo. "They are just going to go around it."

Longtime Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada also has questioned the need for a permanent checkpoint.

DiGiacomo said he's disappointed in the leadership of the Border Patrol and Giffords and other legislators he says are doing what they want regardless of residents' opinions.

Moving the interim checkpoint farther from Green Valley didn't ease his concerns.

"Are they are just trying to pacify us?" he said.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik praised Giffords for supporting checkpoints despite the stiff opposition.

"It is very long overdue," said Dupnik, Pima County's sheriff for 27 years. "I-19 is now, and has been for very many years, a superhighway of contraband from Mexico."

Patti O'Berry, a Green Valley resident and ardent supporter of the Border Patrol, said the location of a permanent facility is inconsequential.

"As long as there is a permanent checkpoint that will do the job that needs to be done and the Border Patrol feels comfortable with that decision, then I stand behind them 100 percent," said O'Berry, whose son is a Border Patrol agent. "If, on the other hand, they've been steamrolled into being forced into a decision, then shame on whoever twisted that arm."

"Putting it anywhere on I-19 is like putting a Band-Aid on a severed thigh. They are just going to go around it."

Jim DiGiacomo, executive director of the Greater Green Valley Chamber of Commerce