By Maragret Hopper
Hidalgo County residents shared space at the Animas Community Center Friday morning with neighbors from Silver City, Deming, Las Cruces, and points in between, to make the last comments be strong ones on the proposed Forward Operations Base placement in Animas Valley.
United States Congressman Steve Pearce moderated the well-attended meeting, and Mike Przybyl, Acting Chief of the El Paso Sector of the Border Control, answered questions for nearly two hours as citizens asked questions and gave their side of the problems facing all those who live on the border. They said they wanted some promise of security and stability in their lives, after dashed hopes and broken promises, which left them still at risk from the violence too long ignored by the agencies charged with their protection, and that of the country at large.
Darr Shannon, Lordsburg, asked why a base farther, rather than closer to the border, would be favored. She and others wanted the activity stopped at the border, not deeper into the country. Przybyl went on record saying the decision had not yet been made, and that a number of factors were being considered in the selection of the final site. While six or eight had been originally proposed, the two finally being considered were on BLM land (Bureau of Land Management) and Horse Camp. The others had been eliminated as unsuitable, but all were in Animas Valley, a corridor needing protection. He added that he wanted citizen input, citizen interest, and this would be considered before he made his recommendation for the final site.
Przybyl said not only entrants from the south, (Mexico), needed to be stopped, but those coming in from Arizona, in flanking actions. These movements could be well north of the border area, as the terrain on the New Mexico/Arizona border was full of canyons, arroyos, rough ground of all kinds, difficult to control. Furthermore, the Base was to be residential, not having guard towers, a place to house agents for two-week periods per rotation. Agents would be closer to the patrol area, not several minutes away at Lordsburg. While the building itself would be secure, defense was not the major concern for the Base.
Stephen Gault, rancher, asked why it appeared that Horse Camp was preferred over the BLM site, where both appeared to be about equally suited. BLM was two governmental agencies exchanging land. (Horse Camp, a private property, would be leased for twenty years.) Also, why had some in charge answered local citizens with analogies suggesting they were yokels needing to be put in their place, as if they couldn't understand requirements for the Base. “If the underlying message was, “Shut up and let us do our job,” it was heard. “So far, this is a democracy, and we are not supposed to shut up”, he said. A difference was that the BLM site had undisputed access from three directions. There was undisputed archaeological clearance, and available high-speed radio service. The arguments for Horse Canyon had to do with privacy and protection of agents. There is a road, which needs an easement it may not get. There is archaeological evidence and a lack of high-speed radio service. “But it has a nice view... these circumstances suggest a hidden chain of command reaching far above the pay scale of anyone in this room.” The interests of security have been trumped. This is not a closed issue. There will be lasting consequences. Some investigative reporter will bring issues from this to light and embarrass some bureaucrats, which is one thing they don't like. “Thank God,” he said.
Tom Nelson, firefighter for Columbus and Hachita, said illegals needed to be stopped at the border; during fires they were running through the fire line. It's not fair to have illegals with guns run through where firefighters are working. Their impact on the environment was heavy and the garbage they left behind was considerable. Congressman Pearce said half of the Organ Pipe National Monument was “off limits” to American citizens because of illegals and their activities. Signs told the American people not to go in there. They were afraid.
Meira Gault, Animas, spoke of soil tests, environmental assessments and other work that had been done long ago for Horse Camp only, not other sites. A postal address had been created for Horse Camp. It seemed some people were considered smarter than others and more qualified to make decisions. Patient waiting had not brought the same studies for the BLM land. A major difference was that the Horse Camp would be leased for 20 years, whereas BLM could be secured permanently. Every dime spent on Horse Camp will revert to the owners after twenty years. There is no question about improving the road on BLM site. That's not true of the Horse Camp site.
Przybyl countered that there were many factors to be considered in choosing the site. He mentioned several of 13 criteria, which he and others had created for comparison. Included were archaeological and biological issues, roads, utilities, water and sewer, phones, accessibility, traffic, real estate prices and more. The Operations Base was not designed as a deterrent; it was merely residential for the agents.
Judy Keeler, Hachita, asked if a hydrologist had studied Horse Camp. It was subject to flooding and they'd be sorry if they didn't investigate this immediately. (The answer was “No.”) Pearce said when local people notified an agency that these problems existed, they shouldn't be ignored. He had personally looked for such studies and topography maps in the file of this project, and those things were not in it. There was nothing on watersheds. These were valid concerns. He asked, ”Are we missing something?”
Di Massey, Animas teacher, wanted to know why the FOB site wasn't a deterrent; if it was placed where it could be seen, it should help. Second, if Horse Camp was only a 20-year lease, that was a short period in a lifetime, and she planned to live her life here. She would like the assurance of safety, so why not a 99-year, or a 200-year lease? Przybyl said in a sense the base would be a deterrent; illegals would know it was there. Pearce asked the difference between the real estate costs between Horse Camp and the BLM site. Przybyl said BLM was $24,000 higher.
Dawn Newman said she had asked information of retired border agents who thought only about 5 percent of illegal drugs were being intercepted. Ninety-five percent were getting through. The packages were small. She didn't feel confident that the area was being protected. She felt the Border Patrol was not getting the job done. Przybyl strongly denied her statistics, saying he heard the agents were over 90 percent efficiency in deterring the traffic. Efficiency was up, arrests were made; their ratings were high for intercepting all the known drugs entering the area. Pearce said one measure of assessing drug apprehension was street price, supply and demand. If apprehension was highly effective, drug prices should rise, but prices had not gone up on the streets.
Bill Kolbin of Las Cruces said the problem was non-enforcement; corporate greed and economic incentives brought cheap labor surging into the U. S., so enforcement was needed. Crystal Brown, Animas, said: “We are in a war that can't be won; we had to figure the best way to deal with it. If people here refused to buy the drugs, the illegal immigrants wouldn't be coming over.” Larry Martinez, Lordsburg, mentioned the need to educate people.
Levi Klump, Horse Camp Road, Animas, said there hadn't been serious flooding there in many years, as only one of two major drainages had flooded at a time, but when both flooded at the same time, there would be serious problems if it were the chosen site. The Environment Department had insinuated that possibly endangered frogs could be in a nearby dirt tank, but could not check, because it was on private property. Klump assured attendees that there were no frogs in his dry tank. Another issue, even more critical, was the county dirt road. Very few families used it now, but with increased use, it had blind curves that would have to be straightened. Getting easements signed to work on the road could be a legal issue, as the present owners had presented problems in the past. Przybyl said he had seen the county road and no changes had been anticipated; they weren't at that stage yet.
Pearce asked about biological scores. Przybyl said they were equal on both proposed sites.
Jim Culbertson told of a road to Redrock that had a steep canyon site. An old man warned that the bridge or viaduct that was being built wouldn't stand flooding. Experts assured engineers that they had it figured. After it was completed, the work washed out eight or ten times over the years. Culbertson said local experience was at least as valuable as the reports of experts and should be considered.
Ed Kerr, Hidalgo County Commissioner, said that if the Forward Operations Base were placed at Horse Camp, traffic would increase, and 70 to 90 percent of it would be from the Base. The road was rough, unsafe, and would need extra work, but the county was not able to maintain it now on a regular basis. While the county would like the state to take over its maintenance, that wasn't likely. It would have to be widened. He told Przybyl the Border Patrol would have to include the funds in its budget, and it might be a big issue. Planners should try to provide the money from other sources. For this additional expense, he felt the BLM site would be the better one for the base. “I hope you won't come to the county and ask for funds,” he said.
Dar Shannon asked again why the Horse Camp seemed favored over the BLM site. Przybyl said the advantages were operational. They would be ahead of the traffic from Arizona; it was closer to the border.
Judy Keeler, Hachita, said the base would depend on vehicles and most of the illegal traffic was on foot. If they got 20 miles beyond the border, in the rough terrain of the Peloncillos, they wouldn't be caught. Also, the Keeler ranch had been a deterrent, but horse patrols were needed. Vehicles couldn't do it. Horseback is more ecologically friendly than vehicles, too. Przybyl called on Chris Mangusing, Patrol Agent-in-charge at Lordsburg Station to address this. Mangusing used the maps to tell how they had strategies and helicopters take care of that. Old traffic patterns had changed, but they were confident they could handle it.
Meira Gault mentioned a 40-acre tract that BLM had and wasn't using. The presenters didn't know about that and said they would look into it. Judy Keeler asked the price of the withdrawal process. Przybyl said it was $24,000 and takes 10 or 12 months to complete.
Pearce wrapped up the meeting saying that there were two recordings of it and that should be adequate. Also, to remember that these were difficult times; the country was flat broke. It had spent 3.6 billion in the past year and brought in only 2.1 billion. People should hold government accountable for spending like this. Citizens were responding and the turnouts at meetings were good everywhere.
The attendance was figured at about 90 and over a dozen Border Patrolmen of all ranks were present. Przybyl said his recommendation for site selection on the proposed Forward Operations Base placement in Animas Valley would be coming shortly.