U.S. – Mexico Repatriation Technical Working Group

While the United States Border Patrol has been spying and informing on the Minutemen at the Mexican Border, below is a quick breakdown of your tax dollars at work in a bi-national 2004 repatriation program evaluation. You'll love this.

Bi-national means we paid over $15 Million into the program, the Mexican government paid less than $250k to "reduce the loss of migrant life in Arizona-Sonora by safely returning Mexican nationals to their places of origin in the interior of Mexico."

Did I mention it was voluntary?

The Border Patrol apprehended and interviewed 96,723 potential participants in the Tucson Sector during the period July 12 – September 30, 2004.  Nearly two-thirds of these candidates expressed no willingness to participate in the program and were no longer considered to be candidates... Of those who declined to participate in the program, 14,069 had been deemed “at risk” and treated by the Border Patrol BORSTAR (border search, trauma, and rescue) Teams... All who declined to participate in the program were repatriated either through Voluntary Return (v/r) ...

Meaning they headed for LA, I suppose. But it gets better. We spent nearly $15 million ... wait for it ... with:

Mexicana Airlines operated all flights,...

The average cost of the program was approximately $1,100 per alien. 
Airfare averaged $1,044.55 per participant. 
The bus transportation cost averaged $49.05 per participant (not all used bus vouchers as Mexico City is the hometown of many participants).

Of those who declined to participate in the program, 14,069 had been deemed “at risk” and treated by the Border Patrol BORSTAR (border search, trauma, and rescue) Teams.

Presumably, those 14k above were treated and simply released - in the US. And we made sure not to damage their "status" in case they ever did want to become citizens.

Participants in the program were found to be in the United States in violation of immigration laws.  Participants were given the option to voluntarily return to Mexico in lieu of formal immigration proceedings.  As a result, participants incurred no legal consequence to a subsequent application for a visa or application for lawful admission to the United States.

But that didn't matter for many. The real kicker is, we provided medical care, food etc on each flight and bused them close to their home towns - returning over 14,000 migrants who voluntarily participated in the program.

But in a program that ran approximately two months: from July 12 to September 30, 2004 - 10% (1,360) of the program participants were arrested attempting re-entry into the United States during the IRP operation dates. This is much lower than the Tucson Sector’s average recidivism rate of 32% during the same period of time.

That means within weeks of spending $15 Million to ship them home, maybe 20% or more returned. Hell, why not, all they got was free food, health care and a plane ride home. And that 20% represents only those caught. Do you really think the majority didn't simply return within the first 6-12 months?

And if you read the full report, you'll see we did everything to accommodate the Mexican government working in the US - including videos and interviews to introduce the program to the illegal aliens in the US. And no one was sent home unless the Mexican government approved.

Although at the beginning of the program potential candidates were not shown the information video prepared by Mexican authorities, this situation was solved and DHS officials showed to potential candidates an information video featuring a Mexican official as spokesperson... In every single case, the principle of willingness was expressed before the Mexican authorities.

At the Tucson facility, Mexican immigration and consular officials explained further the program to the potential participants and interviewed migrants to establish Mexican nationality and reaffirm willingness to participate.

Our country and our tax dollars at work - so long as the Mexican government approves. Unfreaking-believe-able. Maybe Bob's right and Bush should be impeached.

He can always retire to Mexico.

Comments

[Jon]

Our border situation is clearly getting out of hand. Hastert, Blunt and the Republican leadership passed a bill to address the issue, but everyone else in Washington seems to not want to own up to the problem.

The Senate is now taking up immigration legislation:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,194889,00.html

Let's hope the Senate can put together a bill that actually addresses the SECURITY issue.