Pubdate: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 Source: Sierra Vista Herald (AZ) Copyright: 2007 Sierra Vista Herald Contact: http://www.svherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1379 Author: James Bennett GIFFORDS SAYS SHE FAVORS PERMANENT CHECKPOINT GREEN VALLEY - U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., on Friday announced her support for a permanent U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint south of Green Valley. Giffords said a checkpoint should remain where the temporary facility is located, north of Tubac on Interstate 19, rather than moving further north toward Green Valley. The Border Patrol has agreed to limit the size of the station, she said. The Border Patrol station was a contentious issue in the corridor between Sahuarita and Tubac. Senior citizens and business leaders feared a permanent station closer to Green Valley would force illegal immigrants and drug smugglers off the interstate and into their neighborhoods. "The Tucson sector is the weakest link in our nation's immigration enforcement system along the U.S.-Mexico border," Giffords said in a statement. "Every other sector has far more infrastructure than ours and most have checkpoints. There are 34 interior checkpoints between Texas and California. So it is not a coincidence that Southern Arizona is experiencing an unprecedented flow of illegal immigrants and drugs." Giffords said an increase in arrests of illegal immigrants and an increase in drug seizures led to her support for a permanent facility. "During the past 12 months, the Tucson Sector has accounted for approximately 370,000 of the 838,369 illegal immigrants apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border - about 44 percent of all apprehensions," she said. "The total number of marijuana seizures during this same period was 1.8 million pounds - 900,000 pounds of that were seized in the Tucson Sector alone. As a U.S. representative for this area, I cannot and will not stand by and allow this sector to remain the major route for smuggling into our country." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek