200 agents are moved to 'high threat' areas, including southern Arizona, to guard against terrorists.

The Associated Press

The Mexican border is secure, despite the hundreds of thousands who continue to cross illegally and a Sept. 11 commission warning that terrorists could be among them, the nation's top Border Patrol agent said yesterday.
"We have implements ... to ensure that even if they get past the border, they're going to be caught up in that net of enforcement," said U.S. Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar, the former chief of the Border Patrol's Tucson sector.

The Border Patrol has cameras, agents and other resources to catch illegal immigrants at and beyond the border, Aguilar said during a stop in Laredo, Texas, to publicize the next phase of an ad campaign to discourage would-be migrants.

Using television, radio, newspaper and bus station ads in their hometowns throughout Mexico and Central America, the ads tell would-be illegal immigrants: "No mas cruces en la frontera." The slogan translates to "No more crossing the border" but in this case, the word "cruces" also means "No more (cemetery) crosses at the border."

Aguilar told a news conference with mostly Spanish-language media that 275 migrants have died since October along the border, an improvement by 20 percent from last year.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner said the border is in a "period of increased risk" as intelligence hints have emerged that al-Qaeda hopes to disrupt the November election with attacks.

"There have been concerns that terrorists will try to enter the country across our southern border," Bonner said in an Aug. 20 statement. "We have been preparing for the possibility and are taking appropriate actions."

About 200 border agents have been moved to "high-threat" areas, including the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, cargo inspections have increased and equipment is being shared with Mexican law enforcement, he said.

Already one incident this summer has called security into questions along the border, which the Sept. 11 Commission's July 22 report called "porous."

A woman was arrested at the McAllen, Texas, airport with a mutilated South African passport and soggy jeans in her luggage from apparently wading across the Rio Grande. She pleaded innocent Aug. 20 to three immigration violations. Federal officials would not comment on whether the woman was still being investigated for terrorist activities or groups.

Last week, the U.S. embassy in Juarez, Mexico, put out a media alert that suspected terrorist Adnan G. El Shukrijumah might try to cross into Arizona or Texas. But rumors Shukrijumah was spotted near the border were unsubstantiated, and FBI spokeswoman Donna Spitzer said reports of an FBI borderwide alert were false.

To beef up the border, U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Mario Villarreal said many agents have been moved to the Tucson sector. It's the most highly trafficked section of the border featuring a network of smugglers and the vast camouflage of desert.

As of Sunday, 453,996 illegal immigrants had been apprehended in the Tucson sector since the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year, with 71,000 caught in March alone.

Border Patrol spokeswoman Christiana Halsey also said more of the estimated 4.5 million trucks that cross the border daily are being sent through drive-through scanners.

Bonner said federal intelligence agencies were improving data-sharing with border agents, something the Sept. 11 Commission said was a weakness. Bonner also said "Mexican Liaison Units" are traveling to Mexico to trade information and offer assistance.

Even with an increased U.S. presence, some officials are concerned about their counterparts in Mexico.

Carlos Davila Gonzalez, director of the Institute of Immigration in Reynosa, Mexico, said Mexico was hiring more staff to patrol the border. But Mexican agencies lack funding - many of Gonzalez's staff don't have the funding or equipment to even call into the United States.

Villarreal said he did not know how Mexican agents would communicate with their U.S. counterparts if there was a terrorist sighting or capture.

Villarreal said some agents in San Diego had given their Mexican counterparts walkie-talkies to communicate across the border.

He said that led to arrests of immigrant smugglers and provided information on which smuggling rings were dealing with "significant interest" countries, such as those in the Middle East.