Top priority when it comes to Immigration Reform. 51 of all voters support republican frontrunner donald trump s plan to build a wall along the mexican border. We decided to head south to arizona to see the state of the fence today. We discovered one aspect that s been overshadowed in the conversation about Immigration Reform all the drugs. One look and it s clear why securing the border is a such a huge challenge. Protecting a arizona s 372mile long boundary shared with mexico are 1,600 federal agents. And in cochise county, 88 deputies led by sheriff mark dannels. Sheriff mark dannels these rural parts, these open scenes re wide open and that should be scary to every citizen hearing this. Sharyl dannels says one thing has gotten lost in the discussion about illegal immigration the growing drug smuggling problem. And he has some shocking news for america. Sheriff dannels there s been a who actually controls it. Is it the federal government or is it the cartels and transnational organizations . Sharyl who is it . Sheriff dannels i have to say it s a lot of cartels decide who comes across that border. And right now, it s not those looking for that better way of life. It s those that actually come across to commit crimes and smuggle and victimize our citizens. I have a problem with that. Sharyl in arizona, he says drug smuggling has never been worse with an alarming uptick in meth, opium, and heroin. Heroin smells like vinegar. Heroin is potent. Agent del cueto these drugs are making their way into detroit, re making their way into they re making their way into new york. They re making their way into into kansas city into the suburbs. Sharyl the real story of the border is one of unintended consequences. Sheriff dannels says for decades, the feds have put the most effort and the biggest fences near official entry points and that s driven the drug traffic to the lessprotected countryside. Sheriff dannels they routed smuggling, the cartels, into the rural parts with the idea that they wouldn t be able to conquer through those rural parts of the southwest border. Well, you come to current times, ve conquered. They ve overcome, and they rather enjoy working in the cover and concealment of the desert, the mountainous areas. Sharyl to see for ourselves, we flew by helicopter to some of the most rugged and desolate terrain along arizona s border with mexico. Sharyl how often do you see Border Patrol while you re flying . Pilot it s hit or miss unfortunately. As you can see, we can fly quite a distance, several miles, and maybe not see any at all. Sharyl i assume the drug dealers know that . Sheriff oh, you bet they know that. Sharyl we landed at one of two Border Ranches owned by Howard Buffett son of multibillionaire , businessman warren buffett, and an unlikely soldier in the border wars. Howard buffett we re probably pretty much in the heart of prime Drug Trafficking activity here. Sharyl you knew that when you Howard Buffett oh, yeah. I knew it, yeah. Sharyl buffett bought the ranchland in part to conserve it but also to become a which he s become deeply involved in. Howard buffett Border Patrol is dealing with a topography that at times seems impossible. So i mean, you can beat up the Border Control on this. But the truth is, you know, it s. Howard buffett it s the wild west, and it s an incredibly sharyl it it s a trafficking hotspot. In the hours here, there was no sign of Border Patrol. We did see how easy it is to cross. It has been pushed down. Sharyl flimsy wire is the only thing separating mexican drug smugglers from the u. S. Howard buffett the bottom line is that we do not have the drug traffic coming across our border under control. Sharyl the fence symbolizes america s seemingly erratic near the port of entry at douglas, arizona, you ll find a single fence right next to a more formidable double fence and ditch. Border patrol agent art del cueto is the Tucson Sector Union president and represents agents. He s not a spokesman for Border Patrol. Agent del cueto this is what they want the nation to see. They want to see this fence. Sharyl a tall fence. Agent del cueto a tall fence. A secure fence. You have agents. You have cameras. You have everything. Lights throughout this area, so this is what they want the country to see and it makes you feel secure. It makes you feel like, you know, everything s ok. But the reality is, if you go further out where they won t take you, there s still spots where there s hardly any fence. Sharyl why isn t there barbed wire on the top or razor wire or something . Agent del cueto i mean, what we ve been told and what has been explained to us is that at times, if people were jumping over, it would cause issues. So that s why we don t have those type of deterrents. Sharyl so we don t have the don t want to hurt anybody who comes across . Agent del cueto correct. Sharyl from the sky, we see where the border fence is more marker than barrier and where it abruptly disappears. Sheriff if you re going to secure the border, secure the border. This is a bandaid right here. Sharyl not far away, on the mexico side sheriff dannels this ranch right here on the right is a stage place for the cartels. Sharyl so the gap in the fence is right by the staging place for the cartels . Sheriff dannels yep. Agent paul beeson we make decisions on the type of fencing based upon the threat that we see for that area. In charge of the Border Patrol s tucson sector. Agent paul beeson in some areas, the threat has been from vehicles driving across. And so really, the fencing that s more appropriate there is because that s there to stop vehicles. Time. We have the ability to interdict re not going to reach a community in minutes to seconds. Sharyl many smugglers are captured. Law enforcement recently arrested 24 members of mexico s powerful Sinaloa Cartel in an effort dubbed operation diablo express. But untold numbers slip by and Surveillance Video reveals the criminals creative range. These suspected Cartel Members recorded themselves jacking up a section of border fence. They scurry underneath and close it like a garage door. Others easily scale the fence or just cut right through it. Some drive right over the fence using a portable ramp. This jeep got stuck on top. The suspected smugglers ran south. And there s one more option moving drugs under the border in secret tunnels. One of the longest and newest was discovered last year inside neighborhood. The hydraulics operating the lid were remotely controlled from mexico. For all of this, ranchers and residents pay a price. Sharyl what s the sign up for . Deputy brando reibschied the sign was posted by the u. S. Forest service to warn people about the area, that there is criminal activity, being smuggling and illegal immigration. Brad richardson we live a few hundred yards from here. Sharyl Recreational Activities like a family cookout in the local park are carried out with reminders of possible dangers lurking nearby. Does the discussion over drug smuggling, immigration, Human Trafficking impact your life at all, your daily life . Brad richardson i mean, we ve done a lot of Service Projects where we go up and clean up after the illegals that come through. You know, they leave their trash all over the place. And we go out there and try to clean up after them. But most of the time, they want to stay out of the city and stay away because they don t want to be caught. They don t want to be seen. They i10 so they can get on that and on the highway. Sharyl some residents live with near constant intrusions. Smugglers seeking money and guns break into the same homes over and over. Sheriff dannels if that happened in washington, d. C. , or any metropolitan area in this country, that half the homes are being broken into, i guarantee you there would be a change. Sharyl there is a tragic impact of u. S. Border policy when it comes to juvenile drug smugglers. When we return, light or no sentences for juveniles is prompting cartels to recruit kids as young as 13 to transport marijuana and heroin on desert. Sharyl for mexican drug smugglers, the u. S. Border fence is more of a suggestion than barrier. Billions of tax dollars are spent trying to get ahead of the criminals who are moving incredible amounts of marijuana and heroin through arizona and on to cities like detroit, chicago, and new york. On our trip south, some experts told us we re not even keeping up. Sheryl on our trip to arizona, multiple Law Enforcement officials told us it s mexico s drug smugglers who largely control our southern border. Philanthropist Howard Buffett owns some of the most heavilytrafficked border ranchland in the u. S. He says people south of the border are suffering, too. An amateur photographer, he s seen the desperate and poor in mexico and Central America lured by the hope that a porous border Howard Buffett first, i would say that i separate the drug activity from human activity because the people coming across this border that are fleeing violence in the countries south of here have a very legitimate concern. And their kids are getting killed. Their parents are getting killed. They re getting killed. We have to be empathetic and sympathetic to that and figure out how as a nation do we deal with that in terms of our character and morality as a nation. Sharyl buffett s foundation has donated an incredible amount of money 300 Million Dollars for both humanitarian help to immigrants and for u. S. Border security. Howard buffett i d say, you know, we can t accept what comes across this border. We just can t do it. As a society, it s the wrong thing to do. And that becomes a Public Safety issue in a very broad context. It s not just simply enforcement at the border. Sharyl billions of tax dollars and hightech tactics have been devoted in the past decade. There s the radarequipped drug blimp at the u. S. Army intelligence center, ft. Four new federal radio towers recently installed on one of buffett s ranches. Agent you see increases in surveillance technology. We have integrated fixed towers even going up even today to increase our situational awareness. We have mobile surveillance capability that we deploy in areas that don t have the integrated fixed towers to make sure that we ve got good situational awareness. Sharyl the Border Patrol s beeson says that s how they spotted two of our crew vehicles during our visit. Agent beeson we have agents deployed out in the rural environments. We continue to look at and shift based on the activity that we see occurring. Sharyl back at the cochise county jail, a stark example of how difficult it can be to balance compassion and security. Sharyl what s the youngest you ve seen smuggling drugs . Sheriff dannels 13. We just had a girl that was 13. Sharyl dannels says the feds smugglers after 30 days. So the cartels realized children would make ideal drug mules. Sheriff dannels it s productive for the cartels and transnational organizations to grab juveniles and use them as smugglers to bring meth and heroin and marijuana, whatever they can put on their backs, and bring it across. And what s really sad is they go into our high schools and recruit them. And these are vulnerable. Kids they look here s 3,000 to go across the border. Sharyl dannels and the county attorney joined to take a hard line, prosecuting smugglers as young as age 14. There are on average 25 juveniles in this jail at a given time. Some might say these kids are victims, just nice kids that got mixed up with the wrong people. What do you see . Dannels and there are people that say that. But unfortunately, i take an oath of office to enforce the laws of the land and if somebody s smuggling whether they re 16, 17, 15, 14 or they re 45 doesn t matter. There s got to be consequence to shyl in the end, dannels and others working the border told us they re putting out fires without an effective master plan from washington. Sheriff dannels after over three decades of working this border i can tell you this much, the will to secure this border is not there. Agent del cueto those politicians that end up in those positions, they re helpful to whoever funded their campaigns, that being someone that produces cameras or someone that produces different lights. That ensures them more business. But they need to listen to the actual agents that are the ones putting their lives on the line, not just the people that are contributing to their campaigns. Shar yl federal officials point to success in terms of more drugs recovered and fewer caught crossing the border. Would you say the u. S. Has solid control of its southern border . Gil kerlikowske i would say the u. S. Has significantly greater control of its border than one, many countries around the world. But two, just from the numbers it is much more difficult now to cross the border than it was in the past. Sharyl Gil Kerlikowske is head of customs and border protection. Gil kerlikowske it wasn t that many years ago. In fact, it was about 2000 that we had over 1. 5 Million People that we apprehended coming across. Last year, we had below 400,000. So we have more people and more technology on the border than ever before. Sharyl buffett, who s helped run some of the Largest Companies in the world, questions the measure of success. Howard buffett you know, if i was a shareholder of a company, and i had my c. E. O. Show up and tell me year after year, well, we did better this year, we just lost less money, and that s the kind of metrics Border Patrol uses. When the metrics are, well, we captured less people, we apprehended less people, or you know, we got a little bit more drugs, that can be for a whole host of reasons. There could be less people crossing. They could be doing a better job Border Patrol could have prioritized resources in a different location. And i m always careful when i make that criticism because i don t have a really good answer to that, but i do think part of the answer is our government admitting that we re failing at this, we re not doing the job we need to do. Sharyl we ll have more reporting from the border here on full measure in the coming weeks. When we return, these tropical islands may look like pretty, but there paparadi sharyl halfway around the world, there s a big interest over a group of small islands. In the past week, the u. S. Warned china over its militarization of the South China Sea. China is boosting its military presence in the South China Sea, creating bases on islands carved out of coral and sand. Through this region and 15 times the panama canal. Scott thuman examines the scott only a few years ago, these little reefs and sand cays in the Spratly Islands off the coast of the philippines and South Vietnam were largely uninhabited, wanted only as fertile fishing grounds. Today, converted to military outposts equipped with runways adm. Harris china s intent to militarize the South China Sea is as certain as a traffic jam in d. C. Scott admiral harry harris, jr. , is head of the us pacific command. He came to capitol hill to raise concerns about china s intent. Adm. Harris in my opinion, china is clearly militarizing the South China Sea and you would have to believe in the flat earth to think otherwise. Greg poling you re seeing an entirely new island, where nothing existed before. Scott greg poling runs the asia maritime transparency initiative. They Commission Satellite photos to monitor china greg poling we have at least two radars under construction, a helipad. Scott these photos, as recent as february, show china S Construction continuing at a breakneck speed. Chinese president xi jingping, on a recent visit to the u. S. , tried to frame the photos differently, claiming china does not intend to pursue militarization. adm. Mcdevitt you build barracks, you build a harbor, you build an airstrip. All you have to do is fly in overnight and you have a base. Scott rear admiral Mike Mcdevitt knows the South China Sea and the Spratly Islands. Admiral mcdevitt fiery cross reef, and that s the one that has the longest runway right now. Scott now retired, he did seven tours in the pacific, including at the command of a destroyer squadron. Last september when china s president was in the rose garden and he said that china did not intend to pursue militarization, is that a lie . Admiral mcdevitt clearly his definition of militarization is different than for example s definition of militarization. Scott 5 trillion worth of goods passes through every year. How alarming is it to you . Admiral mcdevitt disappointing in many ways that china has in so many different ways chosen to play fast and loose with the law of the sea. Scott although the International Law of the sea permits free passage of ships and planes, the chinese are already beginning to push back. We are looking at construction on a landing strip. Scott last may, the u. S. Navy s p8 poseidon patrolled the area. And received this morning. Senator mccain, chairman of the Armed Services committee he said , the Obama Administration s policies have failed when it comes to china s militarization of the South China Sea. Do you agree with that . Admiral mcdevitt and so what would senator mccain have preferred we do . Shoot them up . Blow up those dredges . I mean come on. Scott mcdevitt says the rise of china s navy is inevitable, and right around the corner. Admiral mcdevitt so they re going to have the range of capability just like the u. S. Will have, except it will be smaller. But because the rest of the world s navies have gotten smaller, it will be the second most capable navy in the world. Scott last month, president obama called for china to stop the construction. President obama i reiterated the u. S. Will continue to fly, sail, and operate wherever International Law allows. And we will support the right of all countries to do the same. Scott mcdevitt is confident that china s bluster won t interfere with the u. S. Navy s ongoing patrols of the area. Admiral mcdevitt there s only one way china can prevent us from doing that, and that s if they try to use force and shoot at us and try to attack us. Short of that, we can go where we well please, but where International Law permits. Scott do you think that s a realistic scenario, that that would ever occur . Admiral mcdevitt i don why would they want to start a conflict with a nucleararmed United States . Scott this week, u. S. Defense secretary Ashton Carter announced the military would increase its deployments in the South China Sea. A small armada sales sailed into the area in recent days. They are meant to send a clear signal to china. Sharyl china says it is the United States militarizing the area. Scott that maybe their argument. Those islands are military ready. They just don t have weaponry or fighter jets on them yet. Sharyl thanks. Still ahead on full measure, a streetcar named wasteful. How your dollars went to support a street sharyl this week we follow the money to the streets of the nation s capital where streetcars are once again beginning to operate. One lawmaker thinks it s taxpayers being taken for a ride. These shiny new streetcars in d. C. Are part of a project that cost local taxpayers 200 Million Dollars and ran years behind schedule. In his new waste report, republican senator rand paul says federal taxpayers also shelled out for what he calls a boondoggle. The department of transportation gave a total of 1. 6 million tax dollars to study expanding the line. Paul says it the grants were awarded after glaring signs of trouble had already surfaced in the project. A decade of planning and construction has produced just six cars and 2. 2 miles of track to date. D. C. Officials say they ve assembled teams to fix outstanding concerns. Last we checked, the department of transportation hadn t responded to paul s critique. Coming up next week on full measure, the animals around us. We see more and more animals in public places, even on airlines. People are registering their dogs, cats, even pigs, as emotional support pets. It s easy and wide open to abuse. Does this seem like a system that is ripe for fraud and abuse . Unfortunately, it is. And the evidence tends to bear that out. Sharyl how bad is it . we tested the system by trying to register this stuffed dog. Did it work . We ll let you know next week. Thank you for watching. I ll be searching for more stories that breaking news alert the Weather Authority forecast. This is good morning cincinnati sunday. Live on local 12. Racing toward the white house with the latest round of president ial voting did to sharpen the picture of the next nominee. m they have beer, olympics, and a bloody mary bar. So much to see here at brockfest this year. Gone too soon, Community Stops remember the lives of a mother and her young daughter
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