Arizona Sherriff Sights Numerous Border Agents on No Apprehension Policy
The Arizona sheriff who says he was told by border patrol agents not to apprehend but rather to scare those crossing the border, says he has been flooded with calls and emails of support. Some are coming from both local and federal agents who are backing his claims. Those claims are that the US Border Patrol ordered them to stop apprehending illegal immigrants that were crossing the Mexican to US border. Larry Dever, who is the Cochise County Sheriff, says that one San Diego border agent wrote the following to him in an email. "Upper management has advised supervisors to have agents 'turn back South' (TBS) the illegal aliens (aka bodies) they detect attempting to unlawfully enter the country…at times you even hear supervisors order the agents over the radio to "TBS" the aliens instead of catching them."

Dever Concerned
The problem with this action, which he says federal officials want, is that even if you chase them back over the border, they keep trying to come back in, even just ten minutes later. He says, "This makes the job for agents more dangerous. Not only are they aliens more defiant, they also begin to feel like they can get away with breaking our federal laws." Dever says he has over 100 messages from both retired and active Border Patrol agents and from local law enforcement around the country. Many wrote that they had firsthand knowledge of the efforts to reduce the number of apprehensions on the border by simply not making as many arrests. Dever accused Border Patrol officials, including one senior supervisor, of directing him to keep the number of border apprehensions down by chasing away illegal immigrants towards Mexico rather than arresting them. In addition, it is important to note that the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, has recently come forward to claim that there is a significant reduction in the number of border apprehensions, thus showing that the increase in security at the border is working.

Border Patrol Says It's Not True
According to the Border Patrol itself, the claims are just not true. They believe that Dever is mistaken. However, others are coming forward to claim otherwise. In another email received by Dever, the following was stated. "This is nothing new, during my career with the border patrol, this was done regularly. By assigning agents to different tasks, locations, etc, the apprehensions can be increased or decreased dramatically." That came from Dan McCaskill Jr, who is a retired Border Control agent that worked specifically in the Anti Smuggling Unit. He also described how the apprehension numbers were in fact regularly manipulated in order to achieve the specific budget the agency needed, or to meet manpower goals or to obtain equipment. Others, including the Local 254, which is the branch of the National Border Patrol Council union, stated that Dever is telling the true and that it "seems David Copperfield is running the Border Patrol…creating the illusion that all is well and you can start having family picnics in the areas."