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| Topic: Illegals help open jobs in Gov. | |
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Edited by
willing2
on
Tue 07/20/10 12:55 PM
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http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/armed-escorts-accompany-new- mexico-livestock-inspectors
Armed escorts to accompany New Mexico livestock inspectors Published 20 July 2010 Beginning on 26 July, armed deputies will accompany inspectors to the scales in a corridor that stretches southwest from Interstate 10 at Las Cruces to the New Mexico-Arizona border, along Luna, Hidalgo, and Grant counties; the sense of insecurity among ranchers along the border has increased since the highly-publicized 27 March murder of Arizona rancher Robert Krentz When inspectors in New Mexico begin surveying thirty-two livestock scales along the increasingly dangerous Mexican border later this month, they will have armed escorts at their sides. It will mark the first time armed deputies will travel with New Mexico Department of Agriculture inspectors, who certify the scales used to weigh livestock, Luna County Sheriff Raymond Cobos said. “These scales that the ranchers use to ship their cattle are in isolated areas,” Cobos told FoxNews.com. “And the administration decided since those inspectors and personnel are not armed, they wanted to be able to concentrate on their work without worrying about their security.” Cobos said that beginning on 26 July, deputies will accompany inspectors to the scales in a corridor that stretches southwest from Interstate 10 at Las Cruces to the New Mexico-Arizona border, along Luna, Hidalgo, and Grant counties. “It also helps the deputies become more familiar with the ranches and their particular layouts,” Cobos said. “It’s a benefit to all of us.” Cobos, who will coordinate deputies from the three counties, said the deputies will work overtime to accompany the inspectors and will be paid via federal assistance from Operation Stonegarden, a DHS program that gives fourteen states along the border flexibility to use grant funding to enhance coordination among state and federal law enforcement agencies. “It’s a safe way of providing their personnel with protection so they don’t encounter a situation that would imperil the equipment or their lives,” Cobos said. “It’s a relatively small cost to prevent a tragedy.” Illegal activity, such as human and drug trafficking, has “pretty much been shut down” in Luna County since 2005, Cobos said, but he acknowledged the “big potential for violence” at any time. Caren Cowan, executive director of the New Mexico Cattlegrowers Association, said overall safety concerns for ranchers was the “primary” topic during a 27 May meeting, exactly two months after the highly-publicized murder of Arizona rancher Robert Krentz. “The Krentz murder woke a lot of people up to the dangers we’ve been dealing with down there all along,” Cowan said. “In actuality, the danger down there is no greater than it was last year, but it’s been brought into strong focus now. Because there’s no cell service down there, inspectors are saying, ‘Wait a minute, we’re in harm’s way.’” If those inspectors cannot get secure access to the scales, ranchers “can’t do business,” Cowan said, adding the alternative would be to ship cattle to be weighed in less remote areas, resulting in a loss of up to five percent in overall weight. Calves, which are typically sold in the fall, can reach up to 700 pounds, but “when you load ‘em up, they get agitated, get stressed and lose water weight,” Cowan said. “With ranchers, your payday is once a year, and it’s based on what those calves weigh.” Fox News’s Joshua Rhett Miller reports that inspectors are required by law to test all commercial weighing devices at least once a year in New Mexico. According to New Mexico Department of Agriculture statistics, total cash receipts from livestock products in 2008 were $2.4 billion, the second-highest cash commodity in the state. Joe Gomez, division director of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture’s Standards and Consumer Services Division, said the move to provide armed deputies for inspectors is based on “safety concerns that have escalated” over the past few years. “Our concern is if we interrupt any [illegal] activity,” Gomez said. “I really care about [the inspectors]. I don’t want anything to happen to them.” Read more: http://forums.myspace.com/t/4813092.aspx?fuseaction=forums.viewthread#ixzz0uFp6MDgm |
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