For a stretch of 12 miles along the main section of Douglas, the patrol has erected an 18-foot-high steel fence, in part using surplus helicopter landing pads from the Persian Gulf War. Army engineers have built miles of roads along the border for Jeeps to patrol.
In the last year, the Border Patrol has also checked the FBI database for the fingerprints of every illegal immigrant it catches. About 122,000 felons have been caught attempting to enter the U.S. from Mexico in the last 12 months, Aguilar said.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday August 30, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 44 words Type of Material: Correction
Arizona border town -- A photo caption that accompanied an article in Friday's Section A about undocumented border crossers in Douglas, Ariz., incorrectly described the location of a U.S. Border Patrol supervisor. The supervisor was standing in a drainage pipe, not a drainage ditch.
The multimillion-dollar investments have slowed but not stopped the flow. Every few feet, the fence has repairs where smugglers or illegal immigrants sawed openings. Many smugglers know how to avoid the cameras and sensors.
Greg Morales says he sees illegal immigrants breaching the fence every day. His front porch is 100 feet from the fence, along International Road, a rutted dirt path that is heavily patrolled by federal agents and lighted like Dodger Stadium at night.
Though he doesn't blame illegal immigrants for trying to find jobs, his life on International Road over the last 72 years has been punctuated by frightening incidents.
Just a few weeks ago, he discovered three illegal immigrants hiding in a tree in his front yard. Before that, he was awakened in the middle of the night by a group on his roof.
Last year, smugglers threw rocks at him from the Mexican side, and he responded with shots from his .22-caliber handgun. He was hauled in to the Police Department, charged and ultimately fined $500.
"We have been shooting at each other for 20 years," Morales said. "The Mexicans know how to fire a gun, but they don't know how to aim."
Ranchers outside Douglas are incensed by illegal immigrants who open livestock gates, drain water tanks and contaminate land with human waste, toilet paper and discarded food.
"The cattle and wildlife are in constant chaos at night," said Wendy Glenn, who ranches 15,000 acres with her husband and daughter on the border with Mexico. "They cut fences, leave gates open, they kill snakes for food and trample paths."
Glenn and her husband head Malpai Borderlands Group, an association of ranchers dedicated to environmental practices. The group has been disappointed with the response from Arizona's congressional delegation and federal officials.
Another faction critical of federal efforts is the religious groups that have decried the human toll from increased enforcement.
