835,000 illegal aliens spotted in 3 months in AZ..... so they shut it down

[drummer55]

853,000 Illegal Aliens Spotted Crossing Border By Unmanned Drones In 3 Month Period, Program Grounded



The program of unmanned drones that patrol the Arizona-Mexico has been suspended by the federal government so they can "evaluate its effectiveness". Since their deployment last summer the Hermes class ummanned drones have apprehended 965 illegal aliens and confiscated 843 pounds of marijuana. The Hunter class drones have apprehended 287 illegal aliens and seized over 1,900 pounds of marijuana.

I hope they are simply evaluating which version to expand and use more widely, but according to some quotes in the article below it sounds like there's even the potential for the program to be scrapped.

signonsandiego times http://tinyurl.com/6ctly

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Paul Olski, director of aviation joint planning and development in the Department of Homeland Security, said that the three Hermes 450 UAVs patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border were so successful that the agency plans to purchase "a number of Hunter UAVs." During a three-month test period, the Hermes, flying at about 15,000 feet at around 90 knots, spotted some 853,000 people crossing the border, according to Olski.

aviationtoday http://tinyurl.com/49jqb


How can you ground such a successful program??????
This is unbelievable!!!!

The real problem is that with 853,000 people illegally crossing the border during a 3 month test period there's not enough agents to apprehend them all.

By the way that’s 3,412,000 people a year coming in illegally.

[elehhhhna]

1. Not really. The numbers too high...

Illegals here in TX go home for Christmas for 2 weeks and are back by 1/2 like clockwork. They visit their families during the year--lots of these crossers do so several times a year.

[primavera]

9. Waaaay too high

The highest estimate of the growth of the undocumented population in the US is 500,000 a year, and most experts believe that's too high, that 300-350,000 is a more realistic number. Admittedly, those are estimates of the growth in the permanent undocumented population and casual crossings for short periods of time are undoubtedly higher but still, that sounds very, very high.

These kinds of numbers should also be taken with a grain of salt these days in particular as comprehensive immigration reform is on the agenda this year and anti-immigrant groups as well as national security neocons are circling the wagons, trying to convince everyone that the US is in imminent danger of being overrun by hordes of illegal immigrants. You'll hear a lot of these sorts of numbers being thrown around in the months to come and they'll have about as much veracity as Kindasleazy's predictions of mushroom clouds over Washington.

[Nothing Without Hope]

2. The blivet** administration LIKES illegal aliens = SLAVE LABOR n/t

[DBoon]

3. Their business friends started complaining that "their" Mexicans were held

Can't let homeland security get in the way of profits.

[Nothing Without Hope]

4. Yes, that's exactly what I'm betting happened. Nice, huh? n/t

[Pushed To The Left]

7. Yes!

The goals of conservatism are cheap labor and people in power profiting. The hardcore conservatives LOVE illegal immigration. They talk a good game, but they never do anything meaningful. I think it's time for progressives to take over this issue and expose the right wing for the phonies they are!

[Nothing Without Hope]

8. Sounds good to me! Because they ARE phonies and hypocrites

Texas is one of the states with a high number of illegal immigrants, most from Mexico, who mostly work for wealthy bosses. Their living conditions are uncontrolled, unsupervised, and often horrible. It really IS slave labor, exactly slave labor, no exaggeration. Their bosses are usually Republicans and often "Christians" who often use such favorite blivet** terms as "freedom" and "liberty" in discussing politics.

Really turns your stomach, doesn't it?

[matt819]

5. Huh?

That's 9,500 a day, and only in the area covered by this program. That seems really high. Can it be right?

[Booster]

6. According to a report I read, illegals send 8 BILLION dollars home

to Mexico every year. If they are getting below minimum wage, have to pay something to live here, etc., well, do the math. There are a lot more here than we are being told about.

[Bridget Burke]

14. Do you have a link to that report?

In the meantime, I'll hunt down a link to the amount of money sent back to Ireland by immigrants in the 19th & 20th century.

[poe]

10. Those so-called 'illegals' are just chasing down goods stolen from them

by El Norte like mangoes, bananas, coffee etc. that flow so freely across the colonial demarcation ,uh,uh border. used to live right on the border near nogales. worked on a so-called weed committee to prevent invasive plants that used too much water. i looked around the room and saw all white faces and suggested it wasn't only the weeds that had invaded and used too much water. true story. they say Laissez-Faire when it comes to goods and lazy foreigner when it comes to people. people don't want to walk across the searing desert with two gallons of water dangling from their arms. they are driven off the land and desperate. we tried to help them when we could. McAmeriWalMartika-Plastic Racist Nation.

[Mystified]

11. I see racism is back in vogue

"worked on a so-called weed committee to prevent invasive plants that used too much water. i looked around the room and saw all white faces and suggested it wasn't only the weeds that had invaded and used too much water."

"people don't want to walk across the searing desert with two gallons of water dangling from their arms. they are driven off the land and desperate."

Who exactly drove the people off their land in Mexico? It wasn't the U.S.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

13. No, it was just Americans.

It's the same thing that is happening in American cities. They take the best locations and set up resorts and spas for rich people (in this case rich white americans). The people that live there might try and keep their land, but eventually the rising taxes drive them off.

Please. Don't bother with the "racism against whites" bullshit unless you've been to Mexico and I mean the REAL mexico, not the tourist spots.

[txaslftist]

12. They didn't shut down Arizona again, did they?