Army Explains Security Flaws at Intel Base: Apprehending Illegal Aliens Not DOD Mission

A few years after illegal immigrants penetrated a New Jersey Army base to plan an attack, a news report reveals that the number of undocumented aliens captured at a U.S. military intelligence facility in Arizona increases each year and a former U.S. Border Patrol supervisor warns that Americans “should be petrified.”

A Tucson news station broke the story over the weekend and it’s downright disturbing, though it features the sort of finger-pointing and passing of the buck common among government agencies. Security at a key military installation in southern Arizona, Fort Huachuca, is regularly violated by illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. Many carry large backpacks with unknown contents.

Each year the number of violators increases, according to figures provided in the news report, but authorities don’t appear to be all that concerned. In fiscal year 2013 a total of 331 illegal aliens were apprehended on the sprawling grounds of Fort Huachuca, almost three times as many as the previous fiscal year when 112 were caught. In fiscal year 2011 the figure was 96, the news report reveals.

A former Border Patrol supervisor who grew up in the area and served in the U.S. Army says the area, which is only about 15 miles from the Mexican border, is infested with very sophisticated smuggling operations. “They’ve been getting by with it for years,” the retired federal agent, Dave Stoddard, says in the newscast. “They know the formula. They know the routine.” Stoddard has testified before Congress about illegal immigration and warns that Americans should be petrified about the systematic incursions at a crucial military installation.

The Pentagon knows this is going on but chooses to ignore it, according to Stoddard. Fort Huachuca officials claim that the Department of Defense (DOD) is not responsible for enforcing immigration. “Apprehending undocumented immigrants is a Department of Homeland Security mission and not a DOD one,” according to a military source quoted in the story.

The elected official, Democrat Ron Barber, who represents the area in the U.S. House of Representatives claims the incursions by illegal immigrants are not a problem, though he admitted there is reason to be concerned. “I feel very strongly that the fort has good security, and the numbers are not huge, when you consider the large number of people that are apprehended across the border,” said the congressman who holds a key leadership position on the House Committee on Homeland Security.

It was just a few years ago that illegal immigrants easily gained access to Fort Dix in New Jersey to plan a deadly attack. Incredibly, the illegal aliens frequently entered the base with little scrutiny. It didn’t lead to increased security at military bases around the country, however. A few months later a dozen illegal aliens got arrested for working inside a Texas military installation, Ft. Bliss and Biggs Army Airfield.