SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Mexico – The arrival of National Guard troops in Arizona has scared off illegal Mexican migrants along the border, significantly reducing illegal crossings, according to U.S. and Mexican officials.
U.S. authorities said that detentions along the U.S.-Mexico border decreased by 21 percent, to 26,994, in the first 10 days of June, compared with 34,077 for the same period a year ago. Along the Arizona portion of the border, once the busiest crossing spot, detentions have dropped 23 percent.
The region's blistering June temperatures typically drive down the number of migrants, but not so drastically, said Mario Martinez, a spokesman with the Border Patrol in Washington.
The 55 soldiers who arrived June 3 are the first of some 6,000 to be dispatched as part of President Bush's plan to stem illegal immigration.
The soldiers aren't allowed to detain migrants and have been limited to projects like extending border fences and repairing roads, but their presence is keeping would-be illegal crossers away from the area, migrant-rights activists said.
Francisco Loureiro, who runs a migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, said migrants are afraid of U.S. troops after hearing reports of abuse in Iraq.
“Some migrants have told me they heard about the troops on television and, because the U.S. Army doesn't have a very good reputation, they prefer not to cross,” Loureiro said. Others have been put off by smugglers' fees that have nearly doubled to more than $3,000.
Jorge Vazquez, coordinator for Mexico's Grupo Beta migrant aid agency in San Luis Rio Colorado, said that before the troops arrived, his agents encountered at least two dozen migrants daily.
“There have been days . . . when we've found only three migrants,” Vazquez said.
Some migrants may be moving to the California portion of the border, the only stretch that saw a spike in detentions, up 7 percent, to 5,965, during the first 10 days of June.
