Border research project has some questioning if it is necessary

As of right now I am working on a story related to border issues and the economy. The story focuses on the Center of Excellence for Border Security and Immigration, or COE BSI, at the UA that just officially opened up earlier this month. The Department of Homeland Security has chosen the UA and the University of Texas El-Paso to co-lead the center with the UA leading the research aspect and UTEP leading the educational part.

While I was able to talk with people directly involved in the center here at the UA, I wanted to get a perspective of someone who is not involved with the project and has knowledge of the border and the issues that go with it.

So after getting some leads from Professor Rochlin, I was able to get into contact with the founder and former President of Humane Borders Robin Hoover. He founded the group back in June 2000 and its main office is here in Tucson at First Christian Church located at 740 E. Speedway Blvd.

Hoover said he has been following both border and immigration issues since 1986 and feels that the research project is nothing new. DHS is giving this research project $16 million over six years.

"It's just more about border enforcement," Hoover said. "I would like to see the government engage in softer research of immigration but there is no money for that."

After looking over some of the ideas that the research is intended to study, Hoover said that the entire project has "a stunning lack of imagination."

He also mentioned that the size of the Border Patrol has tripled in the last decade or so but that the number of immigrants crossing the border has basically stayed the same.

One of the more interesting things he talked about was how the economy is affected by immigration. He believes that the U.S. as a whole benefits from immigration but those towns and states close to the border with Mexico, such as Arizona, don't benefit as much as others because of economic reasons.

"Border states suffer because of issues such as the cost of health care provided to immigrants and law enforcement that is used to patrol and police the area."

While the DHS, UA and the other universities involved seem excited about the research ahead, Hoover thinks that the project won't produce more knowledge other than what is already known.

"They might be able to do something such as finding better ways to control migration of immigrants," Hoover said. "But I think at the end of the research they will only find out what we already know now."