Border Patrol Halts Free Flights to Mexico Elliot Spagat - Associated Press
go to original September 10, 2012

Antonio Perez joins dozens of immigrants, many of them Mexican citizens, as they gather in sleeping quarters at a well known immigrant shelter, as many are making tough decisions on whether to try their luck at trying to make it to the United States, by illegally crossing the border in Nogales, Mexico. (AP/Ross D. Franklin)

TUCSON, Ariz. — The U.S. government has halted flights home for Mexicans caught entering the country illegally in the deadly summer heat of Arizona's deserts, a money-saving move that ends a seven-year experiment that cost taxpayers nearly $100 million.

More than 125,000 passengers were flown deep into Mexico for free since 2004 in an effort that initially met with skepticism from Mexican government officials and migrants, but was gradually embraced as a way to help people back on their feet and save lives.

The Border Patrol hailed it as a way to discourage people from trying their luck again, and it appears to have kept many away — at least for a short time.

But with Border Patrol arrests at 40-year lows and fresh evidence suggesting more people may be heading south of the border than north, officials struggled to fill the planes and found the costs increasingly difficult to justify. Flights carrying up to 146 people were cut to once from twice daily last year.

And this summer, there haven't been any.

"Everything comes down to dollars and cents," said George Allen, assistant chief of the Border Patrol's Tucson sector. "We're running into a more budget-conscious society, especially with the government."

He added: "Does it fit within our budget and is there an alternative that is not as effective but still effective?"

In an effort to keep the flights going, American authorities proposed mixing in Mexicans who commit crimes while living in the U.S. The Mexican government balked at seating hardened criminals next to families, elderly and the frail who recently crossed the border in search of work.

"Right off the bat, I can tell you that Mexico was not going to allow, nor will it ever allow, that kind of repatriation, which puts families' safety at risk," said Juan Manuel Calderon, the Mexican consul in Tucson.

U.S. and Mexican negotiators also discussed changing the route from El Paso, Texas, where many Mexicans with criminal records are held, to the central Mexican state of Guanajuato. In the past, the route has been from Tucson to Mexico City.

The flights may resume but not this year, U.S. and Mexican officials say.

Read more at CNSNews.com

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