Some fear terrorists will take advantage of the recent increase in illegal immigration that followed Bush's guest-worker proposal.

By Scott Gold
Times Staff Writer

NOGALES, Ariz. — Confusion over President Bush's proposal to create a guest-worker program for illegal immigrants has fueled a rush across the Southwest border that threatens to overwhelm the U.S. Border Patrol in some areas, agents say in intelligence reports.

Border Patrol administrators question the connection between the Bush plan — which is stalled in Congress and is unlikely to be acted on this year — and the sharp increase in illegal crossings. But reports compiled by rank-and-file agents who patrol the border contend that the January announcement created confusion throughout Latin America, raising expectations of amnesty for new arrivals in the United States.

That hope has prompted large numbers of workers and families to surge toward the border, the agents wrote. And though a primary goal of the president's proposal was to improve border security, agents suggested in the documents that amid the commotion, foreign terrorists might have an easier time slipping into the country.

Detentions of illegal immigrants along the border — a primary gauge of immigration trends — have risen 30% over the first seven months of the fiscal year, a period that includes the four months since Bush announced his plan. Apprehensions are up 56% in the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, a region that includes most of the Arizona-Mexico border and the nation's busiest routes for illegal immigration.

Bush's program would give three-year renewable work visas to millions of undocumented immigrants inside the United States and to others who wish to enter and can prove they have been offered a job.

The proposal has angered some on the right who see it as rewarding illegal acts, and some on the left who see it as a grab for Latino votes and a favor to the business community.

When agents interviewed immigrants this year in Altar, Mexico, "several migrants [asked] where they had to go to apply for the new work permit," though such a permit does not exist, according to one report.

Several agents noted that interviews with detainees confirmed that rumors of an amnesty program were spreading, though the White House had said amnesty was not part of the president's proposal.

"Even though Congress has not approved the work program, they (Mexican Nationals) believe the program is already approved because President Bush talked about [it]," an agent wrote. "In Mexico when their President gives a statement regarding reforms or changes in their country, it is accepted as law."

The documents are primarily internal field reports written by Tucson Sector agents to alert supervisors and peers to trends in illegal immigration and smuggling. Similar summaries are written routinely, often weekly, by agents across the country. The names of the agents who wrote the reports were blacked out before the documents were given to The Times.

Rank-and-file agents, many of whom are supportive of the Bush administration, have been critical of the immigration plan, calling it a slap in the face to thousands who have devoted their careers to policing the border and catching illegal immigrants. Some have also chafed at changes to their jobs required by their inclusion in the Department of Homeland Security.

Top Border Patrol officials point out that illegal immigration was increasing before Bush's announcement. Detentions rose 6.4% from January 2003 to January 2004. But as word of Bush's proposal and rumors of amnesty spread, apprehensions jumped rapidly — by 14.2% in February, 57.5% in March and 79.6% in April.

The Border Patrol concedes that it only captures a portion of those trying to enter the country illegally. That is particularly worrisome, agents wrote, when Islamic extremists are believed to be establishing a foothold in Latin America. Agents said they were so busy chasing down people who were trying to enter the United States in search of jobs that they could miss those trying to enter with sinister plans.

"Possible terrorist cell groups may exploit this high influx phenomenon," one agent wrote. "[O]ur immigration system may in fact become over burdened to the point that many individuals may fall through the cracks allowing subjects that may be affiliated with terrorist groups to enter the country without being identified, or stopped."

White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said Bush had done his best to clarify that "this is not an amnesty program," and said the plan would help "identify foreign visitors and immigrants and make clear their intentions in coming to this country."

"One of the pillars, or priorities, of this proposal is to protect the homeland by better protecting our borders," he said.

Supervisors in the Tucson Sector declined to comment for this article. T.J. Bonner, a 25-year veteran of the force and president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents 9,000 rank-and-file agents, confirmed that the documents were authentic.

In the documents, agents suggest that amid the crowds and chaos, they are in danger of losing control of segments of the 1,951-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

One rancher near this border town told an agent that what was once a trickle of smuggling on his property had "gone wild," with as many as 16 carloads of immigrants speeding by each night. Half of the passengers arriving at Hermosillo Airport in northwest Mexico are now "thought to be heading for US/Mexico border where they will enter illegally into the US," another agent wrote.

Crowds moving toward the border swell the population of some small towns by 20% or more. In towns like Cananea and Sonoyta, a cottage industry that has long catered to immigrants is booming. Vendors clog street corners, hawking backpacks and other supplies for the arduous journey north. In Sasabe, two hotels have been built to accommodate the crowds, one agent wrote.

Authorities and immigrants are literally stumbling across each other. Organizers of one recent smuggling operation inadvertently asked undercover investigators if they would move their car, which was parked and blocking a busload of 40 people hoping to cross illegally into the United States, according to one document.

With crowds searching for anyone who promises safe passage to America, young and inexperienced smugglers are flooding the region and resorting to increasingly brazen techniques, another agent wrote.

"Smugglers are usually careful with moving their human cargo when it is not so readily available," he wrote. "[T]here are more people to move than the current established smuggling infrastructure could handle." As a result, another wrote, "armed encounters with undocumented aliens has increased significantly."

In Arivaca, Ariz., one document says, a woman who picked up a hitchhiker watched in horror as he began shooting at Border Patrol officers from the bed of her pickup truck. In Douglas, in the southeast corner of Arizona, agents reported being surrounded by illegal immigrants who attacked them with boulders, forcing the agents to shoot their way to safety with a Remington shotgun.

Border Patrol agents outside Arizona said they were also experiencing increases in illegal crossings, but that the problem appeared to be less acute.

Mario Villareal, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Border Patrol's parent agency, acknowledged that a portion of the increase in immigration was likely caused by to false information about the Bush plan.

"There is a lot of misinformation that there is going to be a benefit of any nature if you cross illegally," he said. "It was illegal to cross into the United States without documents yesterday. It will be illegal today, as well as tomorrow."

But Villareal pointed out that detentions were climbing before Bush's announcement, and he questioned the extent to which the two were correlated. He said the Border Patrol is planning to route more agents to southern Arizona soon. Mexico's souring economy was the primary spark for immigration, he said, and that the spike had come too soon to have been linked to the president's announcement.

"People contemplate the trek north for months, even years, before they make a decision to completely abandon their home and to leave their family," he said.

Some of the agents' reports shored up that contention, noting that the relationship between Bush's proposal and higher numbers of immigrants remained uncertain. But most reports said the link was clear, and that the increase had become particularly pronounced since the January announcement.

One document, for example, summarized a meeting held this winter between U.S. and Mexican authorities. The Mexican officials reported a sharp increase of traffic through Agua Prieta in January — immediately after Bush's announcement. The town, across the border from Douglas, is a common staging area for border crossing. According to the document, 21,811 people traveled to or through Agua Prieta by bus in January 2003. This January, the number was 37,488, a 71.9% increase.

"This has nothing to do with the president's announcement? I haven't heard any other logical explanation," Bonner said. "The economy is in the toilet in Mexico, but it's been in the toilet for what, half a century? They are coming here in record numbers for some reason. And the only reason we can figure out is that it is tied to the president's announcement."

Congress is unlikely to act on the proposal this year. When it does, the outcome is increasingly uncertain. An alternative proposed by Democrats would add more restrictions on importing workers from other countries, but would set some immigrants on a path to legal residency and U.S. citizenship. That plan appeared to be gaining steam and bipartisan support in recent weeks.

As concerns of Border Patrol agents circulate, even some who are typically supportive of the president's agenda are distancing themselves from his immigration plan.

"The way the president proposed it was not a good idea," said U.S. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). "It gave a lot of false hope."

In Nogales, nestled amid the caked desert bluffs of southern Arizona, the effects of this spring's immigration are seen in the large number of prostitutes and in the strained public health programs. Residents say they are used to the hustle and bustle of the border — and the politics of policing it.

Jose Ramirez, 61, has lived legally in Arizona for 22 years and operates an industrial parts business in Mexico. He took a day off last week to trim the hedges in front of his tidy house. Standing within sight of Mexico, he said he favored some sort of guest-worker program. But the biggest beneficiaries of the proposals, he said, were American corporations and both countries' governments — not the workers.

"A lot of money changes hands across the border, and not just for the people who are driving the cars back and forth," he said. "That is the way it will always be."