Government releases report on checkpoint

The Government Accountability Office released its report today on Border Patrol checkpoints.   The 147-page report says checkpoints help authorities seize drugs and catch illegal immigrants. However, the report says the Border Patrol over states checkpoints' effectiveness.  The report also says the Border Patrol doesn't adequately measure checkpoints' impact on neighboring communities like Tubac.  The Border Patrol currently has a temporarily checkpoint on Interstate 19, just north of Tubac, and the agency wants to build a permanent stop, but many Tubac residents object. "I feel that the community is somewhat vindicated," says Carol Cullen, executive director of the Tubac Chamber of Commerce. "The report is acknowledging that we as a community are experiencing negative impacts as a result of the checkpoint." Many in Tubac believe the checkpoint diverts illegal activity off of the freeway and into their town. Gary Brasher, president of the Coalition for a Safe and Secure Border, says, according to the Border Patrol, "Since January of this year there have been 481 arrests at the checkpoint.  There have been more than 4,800 arrests in the area immediately around the checkpoint." Checkpoint opponents insist problems should be stopped not in Tubac, but at the U.S.-Mexico border.  Rich Bohman, president of the Santa Cruz Valley Citizens Council, says, "If we had an enemy that we were confronted with trying to invade from the south, we wouldn't set up our line of defense 30 miles inside of our own sovereign border." Not everyone in Tubac agrees.  A resident who asked not to be identified because she believes her opinion is in the minority, says, "We're the busiest corridor in the United States. We need a checkpoint. We cannot possibly stop everyone coming across the border. We just can't." Southern Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will met with Tubac residents, Border Patrol officials and the report's authors Wednesday in Green Valley.