Desert Invasion - U.S.

Article

The Henry and Kathy Harvey Story, Cochise County, Arizona

By Linda Muller for Team America
www.TeamAmericaPac.org
May 17, 2004. (Reprinted with permission).
 
http://www.teamamericapac.org/ta-nw-040517-harvey.shtml

Recently I received an email from Henry Harvey and his wife, Kathy. He wanted to know if we were interested in receiving some pictures of the illegal invasion in Cochise County, Arizona.

Over several days through email and phone conversations, I learned how the Harvey's try to help stem the flow of illegal aliens. This is their story as they attempt to live a normal life -- on our southern border.

LM:
Henry, I would like to see the photos you mentioned. I plan to include them on our website along with an interview, if that's possible.

Henry:
I have lots more pictures which I will send. Some are unbelievable trash and litter sites, others are encounters we have had with illegal aliens.

We live in one of the most heavily trafficked corridors in the nation for illegal aliens stealing across the border. We have been trying to do what we can on the ground to fill the gap the Federal Government has refused to do.

My neighbors and I are grateful when we can find a voice that is interested in our problem and will present it to the American people.

Congressman Tom Tancredo has been down here many times to see our problems first hand and has been very sympathetic and supportive of our situation. We appreciate any assistance in this matter that you can give.

LM:
Describe the area where you live, is it very rural?

Henry:
We live about eight-ten miles north of the border. We formerly lived in rural Cochise County, but about 5 years ago, we moved into the city limits of Sierra Vista. We retain a close relationship to many ranchers in the county, where most have sustained enormous property damage from the invasion and extensive environmental damage as well. We try to assist them as often as we can, although our main effort now is to detect alien entry points, disrupt, and prevent the flow of illegals in the western part of the county

LM:
How long have you lived in Cochise County and what do you do for a living?

Henry:
We have lived in the county for nine years. Kathy and I are both retired refugees from California. Kathy is a retired school teacher and I am retired from law enforcement and was a city manager.

LM:
You mentioned your wife, Kathy. Is she involved with border watching as well?

Henry:
Here is a picture of Kathy watching a group of illegal aliens we encountered on a friend's ranch while awaiting the Border Patrol.

We took this photo last summer in August 2003. We (Kathy and about 6 friends) were monitoring a well-used human smuggling trail about 5 miles west of Naco, Arizona and about 1.2 miles north of the border.

The area is a spider web of smuggling trails and was largely ignored by the Border Patrol. It was common to encounter 40-50 illegal aliens per night, which the Border Patrol would collect as we called the groups in.
This picture is just a typical event and I decided to take Kathy's picture. Why do my wife and other elderly women have to be out in the wilderness late at night defending this country from an illegal invasion? This is the constitutional duty of the Federal Government.

LM:
How do you make them stay put until the Border Patrol arrives? The photo shows several of them are just sitting quietly on the ground while your wife Kathy is watching over them. Why didn't they just run away from you?

Henry:
All the illegals know that they are breaking the law and know the consequences of such law breaking in Mexico. When encountered by American citizens, particularly in areas that they do not expect it, most are shaken and realize that they have been discovered. We ask if they are Mexicans and if they are "Mojados." *

Then, we ask them to sit down, and tell them that the Border Patrol will be along shortly to collect them. They seem to realize at that time that there is no escape.

When an encounter occurs, many times the Coyote (smuggler) runs and escapes leaving the group stranded. They don't know where they are, except that they are in a wilderness, they don't know their destination or how to find the pickup point, so in those cases it becomes more of a rescue than anything else and particularly if there are children in the party.

However, many times groups don't stop and they run off. We do not try to detain anyone through forcible means because we know that the Mexican Consul would agitate to have us charged and arrested, even though the aliens are the lawbreakers. There are many alien advocacy groups and organizations promoting illegal immigration, which would sue us if given the opportunity. We don't want the aggravation of going through any of this therefore we are very careful not to step over the line.

You wrote the phrase "until the Border Patrol arrives" which begs the question, why wasn't the Border Patrol there to begin with, since some of the locations we use are high alien traffic areas?

LM:
Give me another example of what you see while guarding our border.

Henry:
Early one morning recently, several citizens were watching a well-used smugglers trail. We were about a half-mile north and about one mile east of the San Pedro River. The Border Patrol generally ignores the trail, even though it is a high traffic area.

Smugglers transport illegal aliens from Naco, west to this area about five miles from town, and then bring them into the area north from Cananea.

This group came walking down the trail quite unaware that there were citizens in the area.

You will note that these illegals are not of the "poor, starving" variety which the media often portrays the invaders, but are obviously very middle class, and their appearance is like that of those in any U.S. city. They just decided to crash the border and steal the "good life".

You will also note that while out in a wilderness area they are not carrying supplies or extra clothing. They have a small supply of water, and have several small children with them.

That probably indicates that they had a quick pickup scheduled and would not have to travel far on foot. Highway 92 is about 2 miles north of this location. They didn't make it in that day.

LM:
What's going on in this photo?

Henry:
A few days ago, I was on the border all night with some neighbors filming with a thermal camera the activities of aliens crossing the border. After dawn, while we were driving the border road west of Naco, we encountered a small group of young Mexicans waiting to cross the fence and enter the country illegally.

After we passed by, they crossed over. We had been on the border from about dusk until dawn and had not seen any Border Patrol guarding the area -- and certainly not in the area of this encounter.

LM:
Does the Border Patrol have a quick response time to your calls?

Henry:

       

       

We took this photo recently about .8 mi north of the Mexican border and about .5 mi east of the San Pedro River in southern Cochise County Arizona. The aliens were just strolling into the U. S.

LM:
Looking at the photos I can't help but feeling sad for some of the aliens. Do you find yourself feeling the same way?

Henry:
We are sad that they are foolish enough to put their lives in danger and inflict extreme hardship on themselves by trying to break into our country. Yet, we are angry that they think that they have a right to come here and tear down our American way of life. Their loyalty remains with their homeland, so they completely disregard what Americans have invested to create and maintain our wonderful country. They do not want to join our society to become Americanized, instead they are, and plan to remain Mexican.

LM:
Thank you Henry for helping me to present your story to the American people.

Henry:
It is my pleasure to work with you on this, any time we can get someone to listen and present the reality of what is happening on our borders, we are very grateful. Please feel free to call, e-mail or otherwise any time you wish.

* Mojados means "wet back", a term Mexicans adopted to define an illegal alien. It was coined decades ago when most of the illegals crossed the Rio Grand river to enter the country. It is a term widely used on both sides of the border.