Border Patrol signs near the Mexico border in English, Spanish and Chinese
Source: politifact.com
Republican U.S. Senate hopeful David Dewhurst, saying the U.S.-Mexico border is dangerously porous, said in a July 17, 2012, debate in Dallas that he has even witnessed suspicious signs.
"I’ve seen the Border Patrol signs that are now in English, Spanish and Chinese," Dewhurst said in the debate with Ted Cruz, his opponent. Six days later, Dewhurst similarly referred to such signs in the pair’s last debate before the July 31, 2012, primary runoff.
Border signs in English and Spanish, sure. But Chinese?
Dewhurst’s camp did not respond to our inquiry about this.
But Daniel Milian, a Border Patrol supervisor in the agency’s Rio Grande Valley sector, told us such signs are posted next to "rescue beacon" towers arrayed in the rough brush country that covers much of the Texas-Mexico border region. In a telephone interview, Milian said the towers, 40- to 50-feet tall, are visible from great distances, the idea being that border crossers in danger of falling ill or dying spot them and come close. He said the signs instruct individuals to press a button to summon authorities.
And, Milian said, the signs are in English, Spanish and Mandarin, which is the group of dialects most widely spoken in China. The point, Milian said, is to deliver the message in ways that border crossers can understand. He said Mandarin was chosen because immigrants from China are second to immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries among border-crossers apprehended by the Border Patrol.
How exactly did this transpire? In a March 3, 2009, Border Patrol press release, the Rio Grande Valley sector said it was deploying two beacons in preparation for summer heat and to "reduce the possibility of heat-related injuries and death." The release says the beacons were "designed for deployment to remote areas along the border and to provide people, who perceive themselves to be in a life-threatening situation, with a mechanism for summoning assistance."
"The beacons will be embedded in established illegal alien and smuggling routes and are designed to provide a means by which persons in distress may locate, activate and summon emergency assistance," the 2009 release says.
The release quotes Ronald Citiello, chief patrol agent in Falfurrias, as saying: "We work very hard to ensure that our borders are secure and safe, but many lives are still lost as a result of people not fully comprehending the inherent dangers of illegally crossing through the remote areas and not being aware of how quickly heat related distress can occur.
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Read more: politifact.com
