The border war continues. (Insider Report).

After listening to radical activists in Tucson, a group of Mexican senators demanded U.S. action "to help reduce the record death toll at the Arizona border," reported the October 4th Tucson Citizen. Of course, the admittedly tragic death toll among illegal Mexican immigrants crossing the Sonoran Desert would be radically reduced if the Mexican government took action to secure its side of the border--but this isn't what Mexico has in mind.

"The senators and representatives of Mexico's Human Rights Commission outlined their top priorities for an immigration accord, which include: a general amnesty for Mexicans living illegally in the United States; a plan that would increase security at the border; [and] an economic development plan for Mexico that would focus on communities that have the highest number of people leaving for the United States," summarized the Citizen.

While Mexican officials were in Tucson to demand amnesty for illegal immigrants and bribes for the Mexican regime, Mexican immigrant smugglers and drug traffickers were literally firing on U.S. Border Patrol agents. "Three U.S. Border agents have reported being shot at in separate incidents west of Tucson since September 23," reported the October 5th Arizona Daily Star. The paper also mentioned the murder of National Park Service Ranger Kris Eggle, shot by a suspected Mexican drug smuggler while working alongside Border Patrol agents in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

Border Patrol agents are understandably puzzled and frustrated by Washington's apparent indifference to such incidents. "If something is being done [about the shootings], they're not being told about it," comments Edward Tuffly, president of the agents union in southern Arizona. "That has a demoralizing effect on the agents."