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Border security, illegal immigration and immigrant rights were the talk of Southern Arizona Thursday, with a congressional hearing on intelligence in Sierra Vista and an immigrant-advocacy session in Tucson.

U.S. House Intelligence Committee members arrived at Buena High School in the late morning to explore how intelligence is used to secure the U.S.-Mexican border.

"Far too often the southern border of the United States is characterized as a porous crossing for illegal aliens looking for job opportunities in the United States," Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., of Flagstaff, said as the meeting opened at the Buena auditorium. The hearing was sparsely attended, and those present did not have a chance to address the committee members.

"The reality is, however, that human traffickers, drug smugglers, narco-terrorists, violent criminal gangs, and yes, we even have to consider the possibility that international terrorist organizations are leveraging the same routes," Renzi said.

Renzi, along with fellow Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Rush Holt, D-N.J., peppered two panels of Arizona law enforcement and intelligence officials with questions on how they protect the border.

Holt said illegal immigrants bring both advantages and disadvantages into this country — and clearly many in Congress recognize the need for reform. But narrow immigration laws, such as making felons out of priests and others who aid illegal entrants, won't help solve the problem, he said.

"We have fallen short. We've allowed our immigration system to deteriorate," he said, adding that what is needed is a "humane and realistic process" to deal with the estimated 10 million to 12 million people living in the country illegally.

But Issa said the felony charge, included in the House's proposed legislation that focuses mostly on border enforcement, is a good idea, in part to keep mayors from declaring their cities "safe havens for illegals."

Testimony from officials with such agencies as the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Arizona Counterrorism Information Center showed that despite enhanced security measures since Sept. 11, 2001, gaps remain. But the officials also made clear that there have been no documented attempts of suspected terrorists trying to enter through the Arizona border.

Nonetheless, throughout the 3 1/2-hour hearing, Renzi, who said he grew up in Sierra Vista, and Issa, who noted he is Muslim-American, delved into the threat that drug cartels, or potentially Muslim extremist groups in Mexico, might pose to this country.

Law enforcement officials said they are committed to protecting the border with the resources they have, but said more funding is needed to combat the increasingly sophisticated equipment and weapons of people-smugglers and drug traffickers.

When asked if the sharing of intelligence among agencies is useful and effective, Victor Manjarrez, deputy chief patrol agent in the Border Patrol Tucson Sector, answered that strides have been made: "Can it get better? Absolutely. We're working on making it better," he said.

The session came as Congress remains deadlocked over different immigration bills. While the House is pushing for more border enforcement, the Senate wants passage of a bill that includes a guest-worker plan and the opportunity for eligible illegal immigrants to stay here legally.

Buena students Heidi Martineau, 17, and Ashley Haas, 16, said they didn't realize that the border was so out of control. "We need more technology to get a handle on it," said Martineau, who was at the hearing with other students away from their government classes.

Petra Leija Falcón, a lead organizer with Tucson's Pima County Interfaith Council, said the absence of border-area residents who live day-in and day-out with the effect of immigration policies was all too noticeable. "They were presenting just one side," she said of the committee. "This will do nothing to advance immigration reform."

Jim Ehl, a retired Sierra Vista resident, said the hearings will be effective only if the committee takes its findings seriously. "If its political posturing, then it's a waste of time."

"Political road shows"

Frustrated with congressional border hearings that they described as shows,

members of several local and national groups held their own public hearing Thursday in Tucson to address border issues.

"It is no secret that those hearings are more of a political road show," said Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., referring to the Sierra Vista hearing.

Grijalva presided over the hearing at the Armory Park Community Center Ballroom and said he would share the findings with Congress.

Presenters ranging from human-rights advocates to medical experts spoke about border policy and how it was affecting the Hispanic community.

Gerald Lenoir, the coordinator for the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, said the ongoing border militarization has created a fear of immigration throughout the nation.

"To be Latino, or Arab or Muslim is to be automatically suspect," Lenoir said.

Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias, who sat on the panel, agreed. He said there is a perception that immigration is destroying the United States.

"The truth is, we are the folks who work the hardest, receive the least and actually see and believe what was and what is the American dream," he said.

Before the hearing, border activist Russ Dove was arrested after entering the meeting hall and yelling.

Dove, who publicly burned a Mexican flag in April, was asked to leave by organizers, said Sgt. Decio Hopffer, a Tucson police spokesman.

Organizers called police, and Dove was taken to the Pima County jail on one count of suspicion of interfering with a permitted event, Hopffer said. His bond was set at $53.

Also Thursday in Tucson, members of indigenous communities along the southern border spoke out against increased militarization. They say added border security makes it difficult for them to travel to ceremonial sites and to visit family members.

The group Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras is calling for an agreement between the United States and Mexico, similar to Canada's Jay Treaty, that would allow them to freely cross the international line with a tribal identification card. Since many tribal members were born at home and do not have birth certificates, they do not have passports.

"The border creates divisions in families and creates racism and discrimination," said José Garcia, governor for Tohono O'odham members living in Mexico. "To add more border security would only strengthen the idea that we are two separates and not one blood."

The border between the United States and Mexico cuts through traditional O'odham land. About 1,300 tribal members live on the Mexican side.

Since 1794, indigenous Canadians have been able to freely trade and travel between the United States and Canada, which was then a territory of Great Britain. That right is recognized in the Jay Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation of 1794, and subsequent laws that stem from the Jay Treaty.

On StarNet See slide shows, video, special reports, and more focusing on border and immigration issues at azstarnet.com/ border