'GREEN' EXCEPTIONS SOUGHT IN DRUG WAR

More Agents, Fewer Environmental Rules Would Help In Fight, Some Say At
Hearing In Sells Attended By Two Congressmen.

SELLS - Controlling drug trafficking at the U.S.-Mexico border may require
more law enforcement resources and exceptions to environmental laws,
according to testimony and comments at a congressional hearing here yesterday.

All but two of 12 presenters at the hearing want to drastically increase
law enforcement presence and basic facilities on the border to deter
illegal entry.

The two congressmen hearing testimony on drug smuggling, especially along
the 75 miles of border shared by the Tohono O'odham Nation and Mexico, will
use it to create legislation and help make funding decisions.

Reps. Mark Souder and John Shadegg got an earful of information - much of
it contradictory - from a wide range of speakers, from tribal council
members to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service representatives.

Souder, R.-Ind., who spearheaded the meeting, chairs the House Subcommittee
on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources. Shadegg, R-Ariz.,
joined him.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who was expected, did not attend. Though they
did not get specific, the congressmen said national security takes
precedence over environmental regulations.

Officials from law enforcement agencies testified those regulations often
impede their work.

"The greater good needs to be overall protection," Shadegg said.

Those who testified about environmental concerns drew no comment from
either congressman.

Jen Allen, director of the Tucson-based Border Action Network, called the
meeting "upsetting." Most of her testimony focused on alleged human rights
violations by the U.S. Border Patrol.

Allen criticized those running the hearing for ignoring the environmental
impact of border enforcement, though the impact of drug smugglers was
mentioned.

"All the militarization of the border is taking a devastating toll on the
Sonoran pronghorn.... Agencies need to be held to a high standard," Allen
said. "They've been doing it (overlooking environmental regulations)
informally, but now it looks as though they're trying to do it in a formal
way."

Both congressmen touched on the idea of focusing most law enforcement
resources within two miles of the international boundary.

There, they propose a zone of "exceptions" to environmental laws, including
the National Environmental Policy Act procedures already in place, Shadegg
said.

The congressmen said drug traffickers aren't respecting the environment or
off-limits areas within parks and are causing damage that could be averted
if the traffickers were run out of business.

David Aguilar, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, testified
that about 1 percent of illegal immigrants carry narcotics, though Souder
said he was "informally told" it was more like 20 percent to 30 percent.
The congressman did not say who gave him those percentages.

Shadegg characterized Aguilar's testimony as a "glowing picture" of
everything east of Nogales, but Cochise County resident Ben Anderson
painted a very different picture.

Anderson, who said he has consulted with at least one of the citizen's
militia patrol groups in the county, said border protection is a matter of
national security.

"It is not the money that's needed, it's the military," he said. "I have
submitted testimony several times. I've just had to update mine, and (the
problem) is getting worse."

That testimony did not persuade Shadegg or Souder from opposing the
militarization of the border.

However, both support new vehicle barriers at Organ Pipe Cactus National
Monument, as well as other physical means to deter illegal entrants.

Many of those who testified, including Tohono O'odham members, wanted more
such barriers.

But some worried that barriers outside the nation may force more illegal
activities to tribal land, much like the Border Patrol crackdown at Nogales
has done in recent years.

Though the hearing's focus was on drug-trafficking, the problem of illegal
immigration also came up.

Rev. Robin Hoover of Humane Borders, which supplies water tanks in the
desert for migrants, perhaps talked the most about the issue.

He suggested exempting Mexican citizens from U.S. quotas on immigrants
allowed into the country each year.

Two Tohono O'odham tribal members said the lack of resources along the
border endangered their children.

The two said Mexican drug cartels have used lucrative offers to lure tribal
members into smuggling.

"We're the first ones to get hit and it makes (us) feel like we're
second-class citizens," said Fern Salcido, a member of the tribe's
legislative council. "Five minutes of testimony just doesn't give it
justice to give you the testimony you need."