The number of assaults on U.S. Border Patrol agents on the Mexican border have remained stable in areas without a physical fence in the past three years, while assaults in urban crossings where there is a barrier have shot up,
reports CNSNews.com.
Overall assaults averaged around 1,000, with the only noticeable increases in dense crossings like El Paso, San Diego, and Tucson. A majority of attacks, according to the Justice Department’s National Drug Threat Assessment, are what is called “rockings,” in which ne’er-do-wells hurl rocks at agents.
“The assaults demonstrate the growing frustration of drug traffickers and alien smugglers faced with enhanced security initiatives along certain portions of the border,” says the assessment.
President Barack Obama rejected calls for increasing the number of guards in a May 10 speech in El Paso.
“We have strengthened border security beyond what many believed possible,” said the president. “Then they wanted a fence. Well, the fence is now basically complete.”
Obama then made light of the hullabaloo being raised over tightening border security.
“You know, they said we needed to triple the Border Patrol. Or now they're going to say we need to quadruple the Border Patrol. Or they'll want a higher fence. Maybe they'll need a moat. Maybe they want alligators in the moat. They'll never be satisfied. And I understand that. That's politics.”
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