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Report Links Wildfires to Immigrants in Arizona
By Felicia Fonseca
A
study by Congress’ investigative arm issued in late November shows investigators have linked 30 fires that erupted in a
five-year period in Arizona’s border region to people who crossed into the United States illegally — a finding Sen. John McCain said backs up earlier statements he made about illegal immigrants and wildfires.
McCain said this year that fires are sometimes caused by illegal border crossers, but he did not specify to which fires he was referring as blazes scorched the southern and eastern parts of the state. The statements quickly drew criticism from activists who jumped on him for “scapegoating.’’ McCain and fellow Republicans framed the debate over his statements as a distraction. “I hope this report is a lesson to the activists and public officials that would prefer to engage in partisan character attacks rather than focus the discussion on the vital need to secure our southern border,’’ McCain said. The U.S. Government Accountability Office report was released by McCain’s office at the request of the senator and fellow Republican Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Jon Kyl of Arizona. It makes no mention of whether anyone was prosecuted for starting the fires because that wasn’t in the scope of the report.
‘I hope this report is a lesson to the activists and public officials that would prefer to engage in partisan character attacks rather than focus the discussion on the vital need to secure our southern border.’ The GAO gathered information for the study, which included fires within 100 miles of Arizona’s border with Mexico, from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, and interviewed federal, state and tribal officials along the state’s 370-mile border. continued on page 26 24 | INSURANCE JOURNAL-WEST REGION December 5, 2011
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