DATE=2/17/99 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-42635 TITLE=U-S MEXICO BORDER DEATHS BYLINE=MIKE O'SULLIVAN DATELINE=SAN DIEGO CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: TWO CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS SAY A CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM MEXICO NEAR THE U-S COASTAL CITY OF SAN DIEGO HAS FORCED MIGRANTS INLAND -- WHERE THEY MUST CROSS THROUGH DEADLY TERRAIN. V-O-A'S MIKE O'SULLIVAN REPORTS U-S BORDER PATROL OFFICIALS HOPE TO DISCOURAGE ILLEGAL MIGRANTS FROM MAKING THE TREACHEROUS JOURNEY. TEXT: THE CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS SAY 360 PEOPLE HAVE DIED SINCE 1994, WHEN "OPERATION GATEKEEPER" WENT INTO EFFECT. THAT U-S GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION HAS DRAMATICALLY REDUCED ILLEGAL CROSSINGS BETWEEN TIJUANA, MEXICO, AND SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA. BUT A 50-PAGE PETITION, FILED THIS MONTH WITH THE INTER-AMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION IN WASHINGTON, SAYS THE POLICY FORCES MIGRANTS INTO THE TREACHEROUS MOUNTAIN AND DESERT REGIONS EAST OF SAN DIEGO. JORDAN BUDD IS MANAGING ATTORNEY OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SAN DIEGO, ONE OF THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT FILED THE PETITION. /// BUDD ACT /// THE MOST TROUBLING IMPLICATION OF OPERATION GATEKEEPER IS THE SKYROCKETING DEATHS OF MIGRANTS. DEATHS ALONG THE CALIFORNIA/MEXICO BORDER HAVE INCREASED 600 PERCENT SINCE GATEKEEPER WENT INTO EFFECT. IN 1994, THERE WERE 24 DEATHS DOCUMENTED ALONG THE BORDER. LAST YEAR THERE WERE 145. ALMOST ALL OF THOSE DEATHS WERE THE RESULT OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS: HEAT STROKE, HYPOTHERMIA, EXPOSURE, AND DROWNING ( IN THE ALL-AMERICAN CANAL -- WHICH RUNS ALONG THE BORDER IN IMPERIAL COUNTY, CALIFORNIA). /// END ACT /// U-S IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROBLEM AND SAY THEY ARE TACKLING IT. SPANISH-LANGUAGE SIGNS ARE NOW POSTED AT THE BORDER AT POPULAR STAGING AREAS. THEY WARN POTENTIAL MIGRANTS OF THE EXTREMES OF HEAT AND COLD WHICH MAY AWAIT THEM ON THE LONG JOURNEY. IN ADDITION, U-S BORDER PATROL AGENTS CARRY RESCUE EQUIPMENT, TO OFFER HELP TO ILLEGAL MIGRANTS THEY APPREHEND. BORDER PATROL SPOKESMAN MARIO VILLARREAL ('VEE-YAH-RAY-'AHL) SAYS MIGRANTS ARE BREAKING U-S LAW AND MUST ACCEPT THE RISKS OF ILLEGAL ENTRY. BUT HE SAYS THE BORDER PATROL IS DOING ITS BEST TO DISCOURAGE THEM FROM COMING, AND TO HELP THOSE WHO MAKE THE TRIP AND ENCOUNTER TROUBLE. /// VILLARREAL ACT /// ONE MIGRANT DEATH IS ONE TOO MANY. BUT IF SOMEBODY IS IN NEED OR IN SOME SORT OF DISTRESS OUT IN OUR AREA, WE HAVE SOME TOOLS TO COUNTER THAT, WITH THE COLD AND HOT WEATHER SURVIVAL KITS, OR OUR AGENTS CARRYING EXTRA WATER IN TRANSPORT VANS, ADDED AIR OPERATIONS IN THOSE AREAS. /// END ACT /// MR. VILLARREAL EXPLAINS, MORE THAN 100 BORDER AGENTS IN THE SAN DIEGO SECTOR ARE CERTIFIED AS EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS. BUT JORDAN BUDD OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION SAYS THE EMERGENCY AID PROGRAM OFFERS TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE. IT WENT INTO EFFECT IN 1998, FOUR YEARS AFTER OPERATION GATEKEEPER STARTED. /// BUDD ACT /// AND SINCE IT'S GONE INTO EFFECT, ALMOST 100 PEOPLE DIED, BASICALLY ONE-QUARTER OF THE ENTIRE DEATH TOLL OF GATEKEEPER, WHICH INDICATES QUITE CLEARLY THAT THESE KINDS OF BELATED AND LIMITED SAFETY RESPONSES ARE NOT GOING TO ADDRESS THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM. // OPT // AND WITH RESPECT TO THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM THAT IS DRIVING MIGRATION OUT INTO THE DESERT WHERE THESE INDIVIDUALS FACE THE DEATH PENALTY FOR SEEKING A JOB, THE GOVERNMENT HAS REITERATED TIME AND AGAIN ITS COMMITMENT, AND HAS MADE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR THAT IT HAS NO INTENTION OF REVISING THAT BASIC STRATEGY. // END OPT // /// END ACT /// THE U-S BORDER PATROL BELIEVES THE STRATEGY IS WORKING, CITING A DRAMATIC DROP IN APPREHENSIONS OF ILLEGAL MIGRANTS IN SAN DIEGO. BUT CRITICS USE GOVERNMENT FIGURES TO ARGUE THE PROGRAM IS NOT EFFECTIVE. APPREHENSIONS ALONG THE ENTIRE U-S-MEXICO BORDER WERE DOWN ONLY SLIGHTLY FROM 1994 -- TO 475-THOUSAND APPREHENSIONS OVERALL FOR 1998. BORDER PATROL SPOKESMAN MARIO VILLARREAL SAYS TOUGH ENFORCEMENT WILL CONTINUE. SO WILL SOME MIGRANT DEATHS, WHICH HE BLAMES ON IMMIGRANT SMUGGLERS, WHO LEAD THEIR CHARGES INTO ROUGH TERRAIN AND SOMETIMES ABANDON THEM. /// VILLARREAL ACT /// I THINK THE PEOPLE THAT WE NEED TO GET THIS MESSAGE OUT TO ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE THINKING OF COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES ILLEGALLY: THAT THE ALIEN SMUGGLER IS VERY CALLOUS AND HE DOES NOT TRULY FEEL FOR THE HUMAN LIFE THAT HE'S ABOUT TO TAKE INTO HIS HANDS. THE TERRAIN IS VERY, VERY RUGGED AND MOUNTAINOUS, AND I THINK THAT THEY TRULY NEED TO BE WARNED. /// END ACT /// THE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL WITH WHOM THE PETITION WAS FILED -- THE INTER-AMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION -- HAS NO LEGISLATIVE JURISDICTION WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OR MEXICO. BUT THE CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS HOPE A FINDING IN THEIR FAVOR WILL PERSUADE U-S OFFICIALS TO CURTAIL TOUGH BORDER ENFORCEMENT IN SAN DIEGO. THEY SAY A BETTER WAY TO DISCOURAGE ILLEGAL MIGRANTS IS TO INCREASE PENALTIES FOR EMPLOYERS WHO ILLEGALLY HIRE THEM. (SIGNED) NEB/MOS/WDC/JO 17-Feb-99 4:31 PM EST (2131 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .