A fragile fence: border patrol wages daily battle against smugglers.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: HOMELAND DEFENSE - Cover story

YUMA, ARIZ.--The six men jump down from atop the fence on the Mexican-U.S, border in broad daylight, with 200 yards between themselves and the American &cam. A dash over the open space would bring them to a housing development in San Luis, Ariz., a border town where they could easily mix in with the local population. Border Patrol Agents Michael Gramley and Gloriaela Hernandez drive down and park their sports utility vehicle between the would-be migrants and their new life in the United States. The men scramble up the fence, helping each other over until they disappear back into Mexico. They would certainly make another attempt later.

More housing developments such as the one the men were attempting to reach are being built, some coming within 100 yards of the border. "It's just going to make it more problematic for us to patrol this area," Gramley says.

It's a typical busy evening on the U.S. border. During the previous 24-hour period, there were 600 illegal immigrant apprehensions in the Yuma sector alone--double the number of any other sector on the U.S. southern border that day. Of the 143 Border Patrol stations, Yuma is by far the busiest.

And would-be migrants are only part of the story. Earlier in the afternoon, Border Patrol officers received a tip that smugglers were loading illegal drugs a few miles south of Yuma into the back of a hatchback on the banks of the Colorado River. Agents pursued the suspects two miles into the city, where they attempted to ditch the car in a residential driveway. The suspects tried to escape on foot, but were later caught. The man and woman, both U.S. citizens, were arrested and handed over to the Drug Enforcement Agency for prosecution. The bust netted 333 pounds of neatly packaged marijuana worth $267,000.

This year promises to be pivotal for agents, such as those in Yuma. The Bush administration and Congress have shown renewed interest in taking control of the notoriously porous southern border. The Department of Homeland Security has made the secure border initiative its cornerstone. As new immigration legislation winds through the House and Senate this year--and lawmakers debate the 2007 budget request for boosts in both technology funding and manpower--the demand in the United States for cheap labor and narcotics promises to continue unabated.

As the Yuma sector proves, smugglers will search for holes along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. The number of apprehensions in Yuma in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2005 totaled 138,486, the highest ever recorded and 40,000 more than the previous year. The number of those caught has tripled since 2002, when 42,654 were apprehended.

Gramley attributes the steady climb to phase I of the Arizona Border Control Initiative, which focused on the West Desert Corridor, west of Nogales, Texas. phase II, was expanded to include the remainder of the Arizona, and is bringing more resources to Yuma, Gramely says.

DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff says the strategy is to roll out resources where they are needed most. Areas with large cities on the Mexican side, such...