Arrests Along NM-Mexico Border Increase

WASHINGTON (AP) – Arrests of would-be illegal immigrants along a section of the Mexican border that includes New Mexico have increased 13% in the last ten months. That’s according to U.S. Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar.

The increase comes as arrests along the entire US-Mexico border have dropped since President Bush ordered the military to help tighten the border.

Aguilar says New Mexico arrests are up because the area had been shortchanged on resources to fight illegal immigration in the past. He says the Border Patrol hadn’t done a “very good job” in the Deming and Lordsburg areas.

The Border Patrol has added 305 agents to the El Paso Sector. The sector includes all of New Mexico and Texas’ two westernmost counties. New Mexico also has 692 National Guardsmen.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-07-26-06 1521EDT