COLUMBUS, N.M. — Frustrated by security crackdowns in Arizona, thousands of illegal immigrants and drug traffickers are flooding once-quiet New Mexico, making it the newest frontier in America's struggle to control its southern border.
Border Patrol agents who once caught handfuls of immigrants a day here now arrest 140 or 150 a night. Armed confrontations are increasing, high-speed chases have become routine and officials say they lack the resources to hold the line. At the same time, Mexican crime syndicates using two-way radios and sophisticated cellphones have American law enforcement under surveillance.
"They will call in our agent locations and spy on us at our base right here," said Colby Morgan, an intelligence officer operating out of the Deming Border Patrol Station, the largest in the state. "We haven't seen that before. They are getting at us from both sides of the border."
Palomas, Mexico, just across from Columbus, is a hub for smuggling cartels that view New Mexico as the easiest way to move people and drugs into the U.S.
And Deming, about 35 miles north, has become a distribution point.
The cartels' clout was evident last year when Palomas authorities tried to arrest a drug kingpin. Gunmen shot up the police station, torched the cars and sent eight officers and their families fleeing to Columbus in search of political asylum.
"We are a potential flashpoint on the border," said Rick Moody, patrol agent in charge at the Deming station. "There has been a gradual shift from Arizona to here. We have illegal vehicle crossings every day; fences are being torn down; our cars are getting hit with rocks. Ten years ago, this was one of the least active areas on the border; now it's the wild frontier."
In 2003, New Mexico arrested 48,633 illegal immigrants; in 2004 the number rose to 61,374. The Deming station saw apprehensions jump 26% last year, while the Lordsburg sector 60 miles west had a 109% increase. Border checkpoints like the one at Antelope Wells in far southwest New Mexico once averaged a single drug seizure a year. In 2004, it had seven. This month, border agents found 4,400 pounds of marijuana inside a pickup truck.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said the clampdown in Arizona was making his state "the preferred alternative for drug trafficking and human smuggling." He has requested more agents, vehicle barricades and cameras along the border. The Department of Homeland Security is looking into shifting resources to New Mexico.
