Giffords I-19 Checkpoint Committee to Hold First Meeting

Saturday, May 12, 2007

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

A newly formed group of residents in the Tubac-Green Valley area will have its first official meeting Monday with Border Patrol officials to discuss the issue of a permanent checkpoint on Interstate 19.

The group was created by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and Border Patrol Tucson Sector Chief Robert Gilbert in response to concerns from area residents about the future checkpoint. The agency is considering erecting a permanent checkpoint at kilometer post 50 on Interstate 19, which is just north of Amado.

In November, the Border Patrol opened a semi-permanent checkpoint north of Tubac at kilometer post 42. The agency used to alternate its I-19 checkpoint between that location and one south of Tubac at kilometer post 25.

Congress had withheld funding for permanent inspection stations in the sector since 1999 and required the stations to be moved every seven or 14 days since 2002, due to a congressionally mandated rule championed by Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., who has since retired.

That requirement was omitted from the fiscal 2007 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill, opening the door for the agency to leave the inspection point in one spot.

Many area residents say checkpoints cause delays that inconvenience them and deter visitors, which hurts commerce. They are also concerned about an increase in violence among smugglers as smugglers travel through outlying areas to get around the checkpoint.

Border Patrol officials say permanent checkpoints are an integral tool in their national layered enforcement strategy. The Tucson Sector is the only one along the Southwest border without permanent checkpoints.

The agenda for Monday’s meetings includes a presentation from the Border Patrol addressing concerns about the checkpoint, words from a Drug Enforcement Administration official and a report from a contingent of residents who traveled to Laredo, Texas, earlier this month to tour a state-of-the-art permanent checkpoint that the agency wants to use as a model.

If you go:

When: Monday, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Where: Villages Recreation Center, 400 W. San Ignacio, Green Valley

What: The community work group will be considering a proposal from the Border Patrol to put a permanent checkpoint at kilometer post 50 on Interstate 19.

Click here to read the article in the Arizona Daily Star