Illegals stuck on bombing range rescued by Border Patrol

[Desertdog]

We are still a compassionate people, even to the illegals.

Illegals stuck on bombing range rescued by Border Patrol
http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=4290020&nav=HMO6HMaY


U.S. Border Patrol agents rescued 14 illegal immigrants from a remote Air Force target range in southwest Arizona Christmas night after they had been lost in the desert for more than a day.


The migrants, five children, five women and four men, activated an emergency rescue beacon installed on the Barry M. Goldwater Bombing Range southeast of Yuma at about 9 p.m. Sunday.

Border Patrol officials said they were abandoned by a smuggler on Saturday when they couldn't keep up with him and the other seven members of their group.


The group wandered in the desert all day Sunday before spotting the rescue beacon's strobe light after dark. They activated it out of desperation at about 9 o'clock and were soon rescued, spokesman Michael Gramley said.

The Border Patrol said the migrants were about 25 miles from civilization when they were found.

The Border Patrol rescue beacons have signs warning migrants they may die if they try to continue across the desert on foot instead of using the device to call for help.

Hundreds of illegal migrants are known to have died while crossing the deserts along the Mexico-Arizona border in the past two years.

 

[Standing Wolf]

We'll ship them back. They'll be back next month.

 

[BigRobT]

Funny thing, all the bombing and live fire ranges are CLEARLY marked in both English AND Spanish near the border. I find it unlikely they were just "lost". Many were using a live fire range outside of Yuma to make their illegal crossing into the USofA, interrupting much needed training. This was last spring. I think they are targeting these areas because they are usually not patrolled by the Border Patrol. Call me a cynic, I dunno.

 

[50caliber123]

Could just ignore them as you're target practicing. Oops, I'm sorry, I didn't know that there were invaders from a foreign country wandering right into the rifle range. My mistake.

 

[Joejojoba111]

We'll ship them back. They'll be back next month.

Are you sure they don't get a hearing to not show up to, thus meaning they don't have to get shipped back?

 

[longeyes]

And we'll continue to be compassionate right up until the point where we have committed self-crucifixion...

 

[Langenator]

Mexicans get shipped right back. It's the ones from other countries that get a court date and RoR, never to be seen again.

 

[Lupinus]

take the kids, they dont deserve it. The adults they should have left there as part of the target practice.

 

[SomeKid]

Huh, don't see any people on the range. Just some critters moving about...

 

[luzyfuerza]

Illegals on Bombing Range

I have to admit that I'm ambivalent about the illegals that cross our borders from Latin America.

On one hand, I became acutely aware of the economic and political challenges that everyday Mexicans face during the three years that I lived in Mexico and ran a business there. There are many good people who I know there who want to make things better for their families and are willing to work hard to accomplish this...in essence, who are willing to live the American way.

On the other hand, I am adamantly opposed to illegal immigration. We are a nation of laws. If it is illegal to cross the border without a visa, then those who attempt this should suffer appropriate consequences (I won't even touch the idea of using the illegals on the bombing range for target practice). We should prevent illegal immigration in any way that we see fit (e.g. buiding a wall).

If laws are not enforced, then the freedoms and protections that we all enjoy under these laws are eroded.

Through our free political processes, we need to decide as a nation whether we think that we have room for people who want to work hard. If we decide that we do have room, then we need to find a way for these people to come here legally.

I can't accept the current situation.

 

[roscoe]

I go camping on the Barry GOldwater Bombing Range pretty frequently - it is connected to the Cabeza Prieta Wilderness and Organpipe National Monument. It is beautiful, but pretty hostile. I wouldn't want to have to hike to far in winter, let alone summer.

Could just ignore them as you're target practicing. Oops, I'm sorry, I didn't know that there were invaders from a foreign country wandering right into the rifle range. My mistake.

That is pretty low-road, if you ask me. If you were hungry and poor and had any guts, you would be making the crossing too. It is simple economics - if you don't want them here, crack down on the employers. People will always find a way to get here if there is a labor market.

 

[No_Brakes23]

Nothin' new here, I had to download more than one ordnance load that came back because BP closed the range at Goldwater or Choco Mountain. That was just part of life at MCAS Yuma. Always a PITA if it was HE, but at least we didn't have to do post-fire cleaning.

 

[ingram]

Huh, don't see any people on the range. Just some critters moving about...

hahaha, funniest thing I've read all week. Nice one.

 

[roscoe]

Huh, don't see any people on the range. Just some critters moving about...

The adults they should have left there as part of the target practice.

Also very low-road. Nothing like taking delight in the thought of the death of others less fortunate than you.

 

[Lupinus]

Hey least I said they should have taken the children out of there before bombing the adults

 

[dasmi]

Huh, don't see any people on the range. Just some critters moving about...

take the kids, they dont deserve it. The adults they should have left there as part of the target practice.

That is not the high road, and completely unacceptable. Illegals or not, they are human beings, not critters or targets on a firing range. This is exactly the kind of crap that gives the rest of us a bad name.

 

[Waitone]

Construct a continuum with compassion on one pole and stupidity on the other pole. Here is a big black Sharpie.

Draw a line vertically between the two extremes identifying the demarcation between compassion and stupidity. I've never been able to do so, perhaps someone else can.

 

[longeyes]

Too much compassion is when you begin to imperil your own ability to survive and to even sustain the way of life that provides the compassion.

"If you were hungry and poor and had any guts, you would be making the crossing too. It is simple economics - if you don't want them here, crack down on the employers. People will always find a way to get here if there is a labor market."

Maybe it's time for the enterprising in Mexico to think about changing their own country, not leaving it. Yes, it's risky, but in the end it's not our problem, it's theirs.

 

[boofus]

Reactive targets.

 

[Lupinus]

That is not the high road, and completely unacceptable. Illegals or not, they are human beings, not critters or targets on a firing range. This is exactly the kind of crap that gives the rest of us a bad name.

You are right. Shame on me! I've been a bad little Lupinus. I will go sit in the corner now and think about what I've done.

 

[dasmi]

You can say and believe whatever you like. I, however, can't take joy in the thought of people being used as targets on a range, even if they were stupid enough to ignore the warning signs.

 

[SomeKid]

You can say and believe whatever you like. I, however, can't take joy in the thought of people being used as targets on a range, even if they were stupid enough to ignore the warning signs.

Why don't you just replace that warning sign with a welcome sign?

Sure my plan isn't nice and compassionate, but after word spreads that invading the U.S.A. gets you shot, you will see a decrease.

 

[longeyes]

I, however, can't take joy in the thought of people being used as targets on a range, even if they were stupid enough to ignore the warning signs.

We'd better start getting used to the idea that solving the illegal immigration problem is going to be a joyless enterprise, and worse. Americans are a fair and warm-hearted people, and this, unfortunately, militates against our doing what we need to do. There's a point at which compassion becomes a weakness. We're there.

 

[dasmi]

longeyes, if it becomes national, stated, official policy to have the military on the border, and shoot crossers, that's one thing. But to just decide not to cease fire when you notice some people have wandered onto a range is another entirely.

 

[longeyes]

But to just decide not to cease fire when you notice some people have wandered onto a range is another entirely.

I agree.

We need to be honest and upfront about our actions. Of course, this is really the problem: we, as a nation, seem to be plagued by self-doubt and mixed motives, even when disaster's staring us in the face.