EFL
The new head of the Border Patrol's busiest sector said yesterday his primary duty as the Homeland Security Department's chief agent along the Sonoran border is to watch out for terrorists and terrorist activity. Chief Patrol Agent Michael C. Nicley, new head of the Tucson sector, said that although the agency arrests thousands of illegal immigrants and dozens of drug smugglers each year, since 9/11 the Border Patrol's aim is to keep Americans safe from terrorism.
If Border Patrol agents apprehend a terror suspect, the public will never know, Nicley added.
The sector has 2,200 agents.
He said it is possible that one or more terror suspects have been picked up along the Arizona-Mexico border, but disclosing that would let terrorists know too much and the safety of all Americans supersedes the public's right to know in such cases.
Nicley said unmanned surveillance aircraft tested recently by the Border Patrol proved enormously successful as a deterrent to drug traffickers and illegal immigrants. "Now they know that if they see the bird up there, a guy in a green shirt is coming to make an interdiction," he said.
He said that although the trial period for drones is over, he expects they will be used again here because they can get to remote areas and stay there, unlike helicopters, which are subject to pilot fatigue and refueling demands.
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