U.S. Custom Agents Back to Patrolling McCarran

and BENJAMIN SPILLMAN

REVIEW-JOURNAL

Until they began patrolling this week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents hadn't had a presence at McCarran International Airport for at least five years.

In that time, the airport became a hub for illegal immigrants heading to their final destinations throughout the country after they crossed the border, said Lloyd Easterling, supervisory agent with U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Yuma sector, which includes Nevada and parts of Arizona and California.

In less than a week, a dozen agents nabbed about 200 illegal immigrants, all of them Hispanic, at the airport, he said.

The sweep was over Thursday, but agents said they probably will return to McCarran periodically.

McCarran, which sees more than 45 million people pass through it annually, bustled as usual Thursday afternoon. Tourists and locals waited at baggage claim. Most of the travelers were unaware that Border Patrol agents had been at the airport looking for and detaining illegal immigrants.

Some U.S. citizens of Hispanic descent said the presence of the agents would make them uncomfortable.

"I would get offended if they asked me," said 21-year-old Cindy Viramontes.

Viramontes, born in Lake Havasu, Ariz., is of Mexican descent. She was bothered that only Hispanics were taken into custody. In her mind that meant one thing: racial profiling.

"I don't think it's right that they can go up to any random person who looks Mexican and question them," she said.

Easterling defended the agency's methods.

"There is no issue with just walking up and talking to people," he said.

In those conversations, agents can pick up signs that would cause concern, he said.

Agents look for people whose manner is nervous or confused. Clothing and hygiene also will spark curiosity.

"For example, if the clothes they are wearing are dirty, like they haven't been changed for days or they have cactus needles sticking out," Easterling said.

Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said Viramontes and others have a right to be concerned.

Peck said he is not convinced the agency's methods won't lead to racial profiling. He said law enforcement agencies use such a "scattershot and hodgepodge" of characteristics to identify an illegal immigrant that they can potentially justify stopping anyone.

While all those taken into custody the past few days are from Mexico and Central American countries, Easterling said, future sweeps might find illegal immigrants from all over the world.

The agents are not imposing on civil liberties, Easterling added.

"If there is a suspicion you shouldn't be here, our job is to find that out," he said

The patrols also are looking for terrorism suspects and narcotics traffickers.

Carlo Morales, 35, was at McCarran waiting to begin his weekend vacation. When he was told about the Border Patrol, he said he would have no problem with them as long as they were polite.

"I'm Mexican," Morales said in Spanish. "I would tell them that I'm a tourist."

He said customs' officials had been courteous during his dozens of trips to the United States.

Genuine travelers from Mexico won't be swept up in immigration busts at McCarran because they would have certain documentation, according to a national travel group.

"As long as someone is legitimate, they have the right paperwork, they will be admitted," said Rick Webster, vice president of government affairs for the Travel Industry Association.

Webster said Mexican travelers have long been required to carry documentation to distinguish them from being mistaken for an undocumented person looking for work or committing a crime.

Las Vegas attracts about 390,000 Mexican visitors annually through the air, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Foreign travelers represented about 12 percent of the 38.5 million people who visited Las Vegas in 2005. Most, about 1.8 million, come from Canada. The United Kingdom is second at 439,000.

Mexican travelers should get most of the credit for helping the United States tourism industry rebound from the downturn after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said Geoff Freeman, executive director of the Discover America Partnership.

"Legitimate (Mexican) travel to the U.S. is skyrocketing," Freeman said.

Since 2001, overseas travel to the United States has declined 17 percent, he said. That traffic is being replaced by visitors from Mexico and, to a lesser extent, Canada, Freeman said.

Freeman didn't comment on immigration enforcement at McCarran, but he said in general there is a perception that U.S. authorities are cool, even hostile, toward foreign visitors.

"Unfortunately, legitimate travelers are feeling unwelcome," he said

After suspects are taken into custody at McCarran, they are bused from Nevada to an immigration processing station in Blythe, Calif. If the suspects have a criminal record or warrants for arrest, they are held for prosecution.

They will be "granted voluntary return," sent back over the border, if they are first-time offenders or do not have criminal histories, Easterling said.

McCarran has been overlooked for years because of a lack of agents, he said. But since May, President Bush has pushed the growth of the agency, which is getting help from National Guard troops to watch the U.S.-Mexico border.

"That's allowed us to have more eyes and ears on patrol, and we have new agents coming in," which will allow for more sweeps, Easterling said.

Airport patrols are not new. Agents already are based at airports in Phoenix and El Paso, Texas. And because McCarran is an international airport, it is akin to a U.S. border, he said.

"This rotation has ended, but that doesn't mean we won't be back," Easterling said.

Lyman McKee, 68, was arriving from Colorado to visit family in Las Vegas. He said he didn't have a problem with border agents at the airport but added that the United States and Mexico have to work together to make it easier for legal immigrants.

"We have to make laws that allow them (immigrants) to come here and work," he said.

Benjamin Reyna, 48, flew in from his hometown of San Antonio for a convention Thursday. Reyna, a contractor in construction, said if he was questioned by a Border Patrol agent, he would laugh because "they would only have to listen to me speak to know I'm not illegal."

Reyna, who is of Mexican and Spanish descent and has no discernible accent, said Border Patrol agents are necessary for national security.

People sometimes confuse Hispanics and people of Middle Eastern descent, he said. "The bad guy looks like me. ... Only a little bit hairier."

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