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During her visit to Nogales Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stressed the importance of making sure enforcing the border doesn't get in the way of what she called "legal commerce." She said she understands the importance of trade between the U.S. and Mexico.
Then she made the announcement that Nogales Mayor Octavio Garcia-Von Borstel had been waiting for.
More than $200 million dollars will be going to the Mariposa Port of Entry for a large expansion project.
Napolitano said that's going to bring many jobs to the area.
She also said it was the single biggest Port project in the stimulus package at about half the amount earmarked for all Ports of Entry nationwide.
The Mariposa Port of Entry will be expanded and more equipment will be added.
"This is the biggest project in the history of Nogales, Arizona," said Mayor Garcia-Von Borstel.
He said it will enable a greater number of people to travel to his city with ease.
People that he hopes will spend money vital to his city's economy, border shoppers fuel their coffers.
"We will benefit from this because we survive from the sales tax," explained the Mayor, "60 percent of sales tax comes from Mexico so it's important we make it a friendly travel for those that want to come here and spend money in Nogales."
The Mayor said his is the only city in the state with a balanced budget and he would like to keep it that way.
Nogales is home to just 20,000 people, however, 47 percent of all produce shipped to America passes through the city's port of entry, which is the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector.
When you go to the grocery store and buy a tomato, the chances are high it came through the Mariposa port of entry.
But it's not just produce seeping through.
Chief Patrol Agent Robert Gilbert wrote on the Border Patrol's website that this sector sees more "illegal alien apprehensions and marijuana seizures" than any other across the country.
"Tucson sector is the busiest sector on the Southwest Border covering 262 miles of linear border from the Yuma County line to the Arizona/New Mexico state line," wrote Gilbert.
On Monday Mayor Garcia-Von Borstel will testify at a hearing titled "Southern Border Violence: State and Local Perspectives" before the Senate Committee of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Napolitano spoke in El Paso, Texas and then Columbus, New Mexico before arriving in Arizona where she was serving her second term as Governor at the time when Obama chose her to be Homeland Secretary.
In El Paso, Napolitano said that Alan Bersin will be the Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs.
"Alan brings years of vital experience working with local, state and international parters to help us meet the challenges we face at our borders," said Napolitano.
Bersin used to work with the Justice Department as a Southwest Border Representative.
Bersin's new post as "Border Czar" will oversee efforts to end drug-cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border and slow the tide of people crossing illegally into the United States.
Bersin is a former Justice Department official who was charged with cracking down on illegal immigration in the 1990s, to fill the post at the Homeland Security Department. (The official would speak only on condition of anonymity ahead of the expected announcement in El Paso.
The Obama administration has promised to target border violence and work with Mexican authorities to curb drugs and arms trafficking. Hundreds of federal agents, along with high-tech surveillance gear and drug-sniffing dogs, are being deployed to the Southwest.
After crossing the border, criminals often make their way to cities like Phoenix to commit more crimes according to Lt. Lori Burgett with the Phoenix Police Department. “I know they’re looking at it” she said “but it’s still an issue because we still see the problems here.”
Problems like kidnapping and robberies. Lt. Burgett works in the robbery investigation unit. “We are getting some amazing intelligence and our prosecutions are working better, that’s one reason why you’re seeing so much attention toward Phoenix.”
Two weeks ago, Napolitano traveled to San Diego, Mexico and Laredo, Texas, to meet with officials about border enforcement and curbing violence spurred by warring Mexican drug cartels. Last year, customs officials apprehended 792,321 people who tried to get into the U.S. through the Southwest border, and immigration officials removed more than 369,000, according to Homeland Security statistics.
On Thursday, Napolitano is scheduled to join President Barack Obama in Mexico City to meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
