TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - At least a couple of times a
week, Ernie Kubr gets off the night shift and fires up his computer
at his home in Nebraska so that he can watch for illegal immigrants
trying to slip across the Arizona desert 1,400 miles away.
Kubr uses his mouse to pan with a video camera across desert
trails, and stands ready to report anyone he sees to federal
authorities in Arizona. He has spotted people twice since he started
doing this in November, and "that makes it all worthwhile," even
though none of them got caught.
"Sometimes it can be discouraging, but knowing that I'm
attempting to do the federal government's job helps inspire me,"
said Kubr, who works at a manufacturing business in the Omaha area
and belongs to an amateur border-watching group called the
TechnoPatriots.
Self-appointed border-watchers are increasingly using remotely
operated cameras to help catch people sneaking into the country. The
cameras represent a high-tech twist on the usual practice of sitting
in lawn chairs or pickup trucks close to the border.
"A lot of folks can't take the time to come down to the border,"
said TechnoPatriots co-founder Jon Healy, who lives in Arizona.
"This gives them an opportunity to not only vent that passion but to
have an effect on the outcome, to report to the Border Patrol."
The roughly 90 members of the TechnoPatriots live as far away as
New York and as close as just a few miles from the border,
conducting their surveillance using five wireless cameras set up by
the organization in Arizona.
The cameras include a daytime color videocam and a thermal
imaging device for nighttime viewing, both mounted on a motor home.
The others are mounted on telephone poles on private property.
The TechnoPatriots claim that from the program's launch in
November through late March, they made 160 sightings that led to 118
people getting caught. The Border Patrol could not confirm those
numbers, saying it does not log the names or affiliations of
tipsters.
Even if the number is accurate, it is an extremely small share of
the more than 1,000 people caught every day in the Border Patrol's
Tucson sector, which includes most of the Arizona-Mexico border.
Nevertheless, Tucson sector spokesman Jesus "Chuy" Rodriguez said
of the TechnoPatriots: "Any time that you can get people to call in
and report illegal activity, that's helpful to us. If we can go out
and verify, that's a good call."
Another group, the American Border Patrol, also has a camera up
on the Internet. A California chapter of the Minuteman organization
uses a thermal imaging camera. And last month, the state of Texas
asked for bids for a system of Internet-wired border cameras.
Citizens will be encouraged to contact authorities if they see
suspected illegal immigrants.
In 2006, Texas ran a one-month pilot program, called the Texas
Border Neighborhood Watch, that used 24 cameras. The Web site had
more than 27 million hits, and law enforcement officers apprehended
an undisclosed number of people based on at least seven calls,
authorities said.
The U.S. government has been using cameras and electronic sensors
for years.
Healy, part-owner of a company that installs wireless systems,
telephones and high-speed Internet, said he launched his video
project after learning that his business competitors in Arizona were
underbidding him by using illegal immigrant workers.
The TechnoPatriots charge members a $10 one-time fee, and Healy
said those who want to become "armchair warriors" are interviewed to
weed out racists and other undesirables.
Some border-watching groups have been decried as racists and
vigilante crackpots. But Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law
Center, a watchdog organization that tracks hate groups, said of the
TechnoPatriots: "I can't object to someone electronically trying to
help the Border Patrol. I don't see this as the answer to the
immigration issue. But I don't see this as some sort of evil, racist
plan."
The Minuteman organization's pioneering Arizona chapter does not
use cameras.
"I don't know that it will effectively lead to apprehensions,"
Minuteman national President Chris Simcox said. "Pragmatically,
we're more interested in being out there helping the ranchers,
helping our neighbors," and helping the Border Patrol.
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On the Net:
TechnoPatriots: http://www.technopatriots.com
American Border Patrol: http://www.americanpatrol.com
