McCain,Blames illegals [ fires]

[CJ...$]

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McCain, Kyl, Flake and Gosar issue joint statement on wildfires


Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl and Reps. Jeff Flake and Paul Gosar have issued a joint statement following-up on McCain's comment over the weekend that some Arizona wildfires are caused by illegal border-crossers. His remarks sparked a fury of criticism, and earlier today his Senate spokeswoman clarified that McCain was not talking about the Wallow Fire that has devastated parts of eastern Arizona.
Here is the joint statement from the four Arizona Republicans:

“Arizona is currently facing the worst wildfire season in its history. After touring the devastation in eastern Arizona, we would like to express our gratitude to the brave firefighters, first responders, and public lands personnel who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to preserve communities, homes, and our natural habitats.

“During our tour of the damaged areas caused by the Wallow Fire on Saturday, we were briefed by senior Forest Service officials, one of whom informed us that some wildfires in Arizona (across our southern border) are regrettably caused by drug smugglers and illegal immigrants. This statement is consistent with what we’ve been hearing for years, as well as testimony by the Forest Service and media reports dating back as far as 2006.

 

[tarheel]

Are those Arizonans picking on the poor illegals again? I just don't know what to think anymore. Maybe if they just stayed South of the Sierra Madre things wouldn't be so tough for them. Where are the Chiricahua when they're needed so badly?

 

[CJ...$]

Are those Arizonans picking on the poor illegals again? I just don't know what to think anymore. Maybe if they just stayed South of the Sierra Madre things wouldn't be so tough for them. Where are the Chiricahua when they're needed so badly?

That ended when they "screwed" Cochise



Back in 2007 people were claiming illegals were starting fires
by Hugh Holub on Jun. 19, 2011, under border issues, politics

Interesting piece of history…. in June 2007 it was being claimed by federal officials that illegals were starting fires in Arizona’s borderlands.

From the Washngton Times June 19, 2007:

Illegals light border fires to sidetrack U.S. agents
U.S. Border Patrol agents seeking to secure the nation’s border in some of the country’s most pristine national forests are being targeted by illegal aliens, who are using intentionally set fires to burn agents out of observation posts and patrol routes.

The wildfires have destroyed valuable natural and cultural resources in the National Forest System and pose an ongoing threat to visitors, residents and responding firefighters, according to federal law-enforcement authorities and others.

In the Coronado National Forest in Arizona, with 60 miles of land along the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Forest Service firefighters sent in to battle fires or clear wild-land fire areas are required to be escorted by armed law-enforcement officers.

Armed smugglers of aliens and drugs have walked through the middle of active firefighting operations, the authorities said.

The Border Patrol’s Tucson, Ariz., sector, which encompasses most of the Coronado National Forest, has the highest incidence of cross-border violators in the nation. Nearly 500,000 illegal aliens were apprehended last year — more than 30,000 a month. In addition, nearly 100,000 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of $200 million, was seized as it was hauled through the Coronado National Forest.

Last month, the Border Patrol — in a single operation targeting illegal aliens causing what Forest Service officials called “significant damage” to the Coronado National Forest — apprehended more than 300 illegals along just a three-mile section of U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona and confiscated 600 pounds of marijuana in a 10-day period.

At least five fires were set below a Border Patrol observation post during the operation in an effort to burn the agents out, according to a Forest Service report. The fires were extinguished, and no one was arrested.

Wildfires are being set by alien and drug smugglers, authorities said, to create a diversion in an attempt to gain undetected access across the border. The fires correspond to a dramatic rise in assaults against Border Patrol agents — up more than 100 percent over last year.

“Criminal activity by both illegal immigrants and citizens in forests near the border is a threat to members of the public trying to use their public lands and to our employees trying to manage these lands,” Tina J. Terrell, a Forest Service supervisor told a House Appropriations subcommittee last month.

She said law-enforcement personnel have been assaulted, threatened with weapons and shot at, and their vehicles have been rammed by cross-border violators. Because of the remoteness of the area, she said, timely assistance from other law-enforcement agencies is not always possible, and communications limitations and active interference with radio frequencies in Mexico create additional safety risks.

“Even normal enforcement duties bring our officers in regular contact with cross-border violators,” she said. “Our officers risk their lives every day to enforce the law in these remote federally managed lands.”

The Coronado National Forest is not the only area along the border being targeted for wildfires. Other blazes also have been set, including two this month near the San Luis, Ariz., port of entry as the result of Molotov cocktails — one of which barely missed a Border Patrol agent.

Authorities said agents are being targeted by illegal aliens and their smugglers for rock attacks — including grapefruit-size rocks wrapped in rags, dipped in gasoline and set on fire.

“As larger areas of the border come under operational control, we can expect violence to increase as smuggling operations can no longer operate with impunity and do not have unfettered access to the border for their criminal activities,” Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar told a Homeland Security subcommittee this year.

“This explosion of aggression is an indicator how desperate and angry drug and human traffickers are at the increasing disruption of their smuggling routes,” he said.

Funny how 4 years later we’re still talking about the same problem…securing our borders at the border…while the countryside burns down.

 

[CJ...$]

At a news conference this week recorded by KVOA-TV, Dever said, "It wasn't the rabbits or the rattlesnakes that started this fire. It was the human beings, and the only human beings believed to be in the area were smuggling... There's nothing to suggest it was anything else."

Dever said it appeared that the fire began almost right on the fence at the U.S.-Mexico border in the Coronado National Memorial. It started June 12 and has burned more than 27,000 acres, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people and destroying at least 58 homes.

"When this fire started, Coronado National Monument was closed," Dever said. "There were no people allowed -- there was no camping, no traveling, no nothing. The forest around it was closed. There was no travel permitted, no hiking, no nothing permitted in there. Whoever started the fire was there illegally. The fire started at the end of the fence where it starts up on the mountain on the U.S.-Mexican border. That is a high-intensity drug and human smuggling area by designation of the federal government, us and everybody else."

Dever's county covers 6,200 square miles and shares more than 83 miles of border with Mexico. Dever is co-chair of the Border Sheriffs Project, aimed at helping sheriffs have a voice in lawsuits filed by the federal government and American Civil Liberties Union over immigration and law enforcement issues.

The sheriff's comments supported Sen. John McCain's comments last weekend that illegal immigrants were to blame for some forest fires in Arizona. McCain's comments -- while touring the Wallow fire in eastern Arizona -- triggered a firestorm and were condemned by immigration rights activists. McCain subsequently clarified his remarks, saying he was not referring to the Wallow fire, which is not close to the Mexican border.

U.S. Forest Service officials said they have determined the Wallow and Monument fires were human-caused, but have not identified those to blame

 

[Basser]

For border crossers to start fires is not anything new, whether it is to heat their meals or to serve as a distraction to allow large groups to cross at once. Whichever it is I'm sure some if not all of the fires along the southern borders can be linked in one way or another to the illegals. Sad to see so much country go up in flames all over our state.

 

[CJ...$]

For border crossers to start fires is not anything new, whether it is to heat their meals or to serve as a distraction to allow large groups to cross at once. Whichever it is I'm sure some if not all of the fires along the southern borders can be linked in one way or another to the illegals. Sad to see so much country go up in flames all over our state.

[We must all be RACISTS!]

ALPINE, Calif. - Fire officials were seeking additional manpower to battle a 7,000-acre wildfire near the California-Mexico border as stifling heat continued to bake the state in triple-digit temperatures.

The Horse Fire had burned nearly 11 square miles of brush and chaparral in the Cleveland National Forest in southern San Diego County. About 500 firefighters on the scene had contained only about five percent of the fire late Monday in its third day burning in the largely unpopulated area.

Several lightning-sparked wildfires have scorched the state in recent weeks, straining firefighting resources. Firefighters trying to contain the Horse Fire were awaiting relief from firefighters and equipment tied up elsewhere.

"We're really strapped right now," said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Jake Rodriguez. "We're putting in orders for more men and more air support, and we're just waiting for them to be released."

Authorities said the blaze may have been started Saturday from an abandoned campfire set by illegal immigrants.

Forest Service spokeswoman Anabele Cornejo said investigators found food containers and bottles off a park trail, where the fire began.

"Based on collected evidence, we're making an educated guess that it was probably started by immigrants," Cornejo said. She said she did not immediately know whether anyone was detained in connection with the fire.

The blaze prompted sheriff's deputies to order 125 homes evacuated in the town of Alpine starting Sunday. Residents throughout parts of Pine Valley and Lake Morena, where there are about 1,350 homes combined, were told to remain on standby, said sheriff's spokeswoman Susan Plese.

More than 1,500 homes and 100 commercial properties could be threatened by the fire, but the threat was not immediate, officials said.

Fire crews have had to work through the 10th straight day of a heat wave that has sent temperatures soaring above 100 degrees through much of the state. At least five firefighters around the state have suffered heat-related illnesses in recent days, officials said

 

[Zach]

When I worked for PacBell several years ago in San Diego, I had back country territory down near the Tecate border crossing. There were fires down there on a regular basis to take set by the drug runner to distract the border enforcement.

 

[sturge]

And another one started today near Mammoth.

 

[CJ...$]

And another one started today near Mammoth.

[Look what the liberal Goat-faced P.O.S. has to say]

Grijalva Condemns McCain Statement Accusing Undocumented Immigrants of Causing Arizona Forest Fires – Still No Evidence Offered

Monday June 20, 2011

Ariz.– Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva today condemned statements from Sen. John

McCain accusing undocumented immigrants of causing the recent wildfires in Arizona, one of which has burned more than 200,000 acres. McCain claimed at a weekend press conference, “There is considerable evidence that some of the fires have been caused by illegal border crossers.”

“McCain said that illegal immigrants set such fires either to send signals, keep warm or distract law enforcement agents. But he did not specify which fires allegedly had been started by illegal immigrants, nor did he identify his sources or provide details of the ‘substantial’ evidence he cited.”

“The atmosphere in Arizona is as toxic as I have ever seen it as a member of Congress,” Grijalva said. “Every misfortune is blamed on undocumented immigrants,.Senator McCain’s comments continue to provoke an extreme anti-immigrant and anti-Latino atmosphere in Arizona. This level of intolerance has reached a new low.

Critics of McCain’s comments, including the Phoenix-based Hispanic civil rights group Somos America and Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), claim he’s making a scapegoat of illegal immigrants, but Arizona Republicans Sen. John Kyl and Rep. Paul Gosar defended McCain, saying they, too, had received information to suggest undocumented workers have started such fires in the past and might even have had something to do with the most recent sequence.
Officials have linked three recent fires in Arizona to human activity, but it’s not clear whether a connection exists between the fires and immigrants in the country illegally.

Either way, the fuss reflects just how touchy the issue of illegal immigration has become. States across the country, from Oklahoma to Alabama, have taken steps this spring to secure their borders and Georgia’s set to become the next battleground.
McCain cited border security as a top priority in his recent comments — and, indeed, increased border security would render moot this debate about whether any of those who cross the border illegally ever intentionally ignite wildfires.

“There is substantial evidence that some of these fires have been caused by people who have crossed our border illegally,” McCain said. “The answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border.”

 

[Devil Diver Down]

I'm pretty moderate in my political views (read: Both parties are full of ish) but can anyone remind me why we should have tolerance for illegal activity (illegal entry and all that comes with it, not the alleged starting of fires) that is costing the country billions every year?

Maybe we need more intolerance. So much so that the feds have no choice but to fix this boondoggle they have saddled the states with.

I'll get off my soapbox now, but it's really sad how the political climate has a state Congressman defending people who broke a federal law in their very first moment in this country over our elder senator.

 

[CJ...$]

I'll get off my soapbox now, but it's really sad how the political climate has a state Congressman defending people who broke a federal law in their very first moment in this country over our elder senator.

Well DDD...When anyone who calls out illegals for I.D. theft/Hit & run... Car theft//home invasion// Kidnapping.. etc,etc,etc... You are labeled a "RACIST":hump:

See its the Mainstream press who has the elected cowards "SCARED" to say anything...Look at what McCain Said?? look at the so- called "firestorm" the press says he created???..

We are simply being INVADED by illegal immigrants
! thousands come in EVERY DAY.. IMO.. we have lost our way as a law abiding country when it come to "WHO" we let in....Just look what Obama and his crooks [Eric Holder] said /did about AZ Sb 1070... and the press let them get away with it...Liberalism is clearly a "mental disease" hope its covered under Obama care

 

[noharleyyet]