Ex-Border Chief Says Awareness Crucial

When Alan Eliason arrived in San Diego three years ago, it quickly became apparent that a major part of his job would be getting the word out about the oft-cited “invasion” of illegal aliens from Mexico.

Eliason, outgoing chief of the U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego, spent untold hours talking to reporters, politicians and others as part of a massive, nationwide public-relations campaign by U.S. officials eager to prod an indecisive Congress into action.

Three years later, with a new immigration law on the books and a heightened national awareness of illegal immigration, Eliason looks back at his role in this “awakening” as his most important accomplishment in San Diego.

“We tried to show people what was really happening on the border, and I think we’ve had major success in awakening people to what was going on, and convincing them that this couldn’t go on indefinitely,” said Eliason, who spent his last day on the job here Friday. “I think the immigration bill is a testament to what my people have been doing.”

Eliason, an avuncular bear of a man who has spent almost three decades along the border, is leaving San Diego for what he supposes will be his final border posting in El Paso, Tex.--the place where he began his Border Patrol career 28 years ago. Eliason and his wife, Adel, have maintained a home in El Paso, where the father of three formerly served as chief patrol agent.

In Texas, the 53-year-old border veteran will work with Operation Alliance, the anti-drug-smuggling effort that involves officials from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the parent body of the Border Patrol, as well as officials of the Drug Enforcement Administration and Customs Service. The new unit seeks to decrease the flow of drugs from Mexico, which officials say is increasingly being used as a production center and conduit for heroin, cocaine and marijuana destined for the U.S. market.

“I think it’s an important task,” Eliason said. “The drug problem here is severe . . . . I think it’s clear that drugs are a major menace to American society. And if I can make some contribution to stemming that flow, I’ll be happy.”

In San Diego, Eliason headed the largest and most visible of the nine Border Patrol “sectors” stationed along the 1,900-mile U.S.-Mexico border. He presided over the largest single patrol staffing increase in history, which has left more than 900 people under his command. The sector’s territory, including 66 miles of border and all of San Diego County, has in recent years accounted for more than one-third of the ever-increasing numbers of illegal aliens arrested in the Southwest.

Eliason received credit from foes and friends alike for his affability and accessibility, as well as for his considerable knowledge of border issues. Critics, however, who have long maintained that the Border Patrol routinely abuses the rights of Latinos--legal and illegal residents alike--say he could have done more to improve relations with the Latino community.

“He was easy to talk to and he knew a lot, but he never seemed to do anything about our complaints,” said Roberto Martinez, a rights activist who works with the U.S.-Mexico program of the American Friends Service Committee. “We get complaints of abuse all the time, but very little seems to be done.”

Eliason was chief during one of the more infamous recent incidents--the Border Patrol shooting in 1985 of a teen-age Mexican boy who was standing in Mexican territory. U.S. authorities said the youth was pelting officers with rocks; the boy denied it. The youth has since recovered, and the Border Patrol agent involved was transferred, though he was cleared of any wrongdoing. The shooting caused a furor in Mexico and the United States, reinforcing the perception of many critics that Border Patrol abuses are likely to go unpunished.

“I’m not saying we never have an incident in which an officer does something wrong, but we do take action,” Eliason said. “And some of these spokespersons for various groups go way, way beyond the truth.”

He added: “The type of alien we’re seeing is changing. We’re not just seeing the docile worker anymore. Some are coming up here as criminals, they’re involved in criminal activity. . . . I will not tell my officers to back down, just because (aliens) become hostile.”

Today, shootings, stabbings, rapes and robberies have become commonplace along the border, particularly in the isolated canyons that separate Tijuana and San Diego. It was a lot different when Eliason began pounding the border beat. Then, the traditional image of the Border Patrol officer as a lone cowboy and master tracker amid the rugged terrain seemed more appropriate.

“I remember the days when you’d cross a canal and you’d set up a string with tin cans on it and you’d sit and listen to hear if someone was coming,” Eliason said. “Now we have sophisticated sensors that can tell cows from humans. We use infrared devices, helicopters, other aircraft. . . . When I started in El Paso, you could spend the whole night on the river bank without ever seeing an illegal entry.”

No more. Today, migration to el norte is one of the few alternatives available to many at a time when the Mexican economy is mired in crisis, and political and economic upheaval is the rule in much of Central America. In the United States, meanwhile, illegal labor has become a mainstay for many industries.

The numbers provide a glimpse of the problem. In fiscal 1965, the Border Patrol in San Diego recorded 6,558 apprehensions of illegal aliens. In fiscal 1986, the number was 629,656--an increase of almost a hundredfold. Meantime, the Border Patrol has been transformed from an obscure federal force to a well-equipped front-line army poised to hold back what agents often characterize as the “invasion” from the south.

“Things have changed so dramatically,” Eliason said, “it’s hard to believe it was like it was back in the mid ‘50s.”

Despite the turmoil, Eliason, a native of Central California, readily acknowledges his attraction to the borderlands. The region remains a unique part of the world, a place where Mexican and U.S. societies have melded into a singular culture dependent on both nations, where Spanish and English are spoken and often mixed freely. Many experts have described the border as a kind of third nation, fiercely resistant to dictates from both Washington and Mexico City.

“I love the border,” he said. “It’s just an incredibly fascinating place to work.”

Eliason says he hopes that the new federal immigration bill will produce another dramatic change along the border: a reduction of illegal immigration. While many are skeptical, Eliason remains optimistic about the law’s prospects for success.

“I’ve said a long time that the law is not an instant panacea,” Eliason said. “It’s the beginning of a long-term solution. . . . It’s not a perfect bill, but it’s a start.”

He adds one caveat: The Border Patrol must receive sufficient funds from Congress to implement key provisions of the new law, such as enhanced border enforcement and the new legal sanctions against employers who hire illegal aliens. At times, though, Congress has been less than generous.

“If we don’t get enough resources,” Eliason said, “then the fight will have been for naught.”