U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin said Tuesday that the border is safer and more secure, and he credited a 1 1/2 -year-old initiative for recent progress in Arizona.

The Alliance to Combat Transnational Threats has helped drive down illegal entries and pressure cross-border smuggling organizations operating in the Sonora-Arizona corridor, said Bersin at a news conference Tuesday at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

The alliance, launched in September 2009, consists of 60 federal, state, local and tribal law agencies in Arizona working to disrupt criminal organizations, he said.

Statistics show “these efforts are making a difference in the lives of the people of Arizona,” said Bersin, commissioner of a branch of Homeland Security responsible for security at and between the ports of entry. “We have more work to do, but there’s been significant progress made to date.”

In making his case, he pointed to a six-year decrease in apprehensions of illegal border crossers and an increase in drug, cash and weapons seizures along the U.S.-Mexico border and steady or declining violent crime rates in U.S. border communities.

But critics say Bersin’s repeated claims that the border is more secure are inaccurate, and that he is only trying to score political points. The Dec. 14 fatal shooting of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry near Nogales and the March 2010 fatal shooting of Cochise County rancher Robert Krentz on his ranch northeast of Douglas illustrate the danger. Both cases remain unsolved.

The fact that Arizona still accounts for about half of all apprehensions and marijuana seizures made along the U.S.-Mexico border shows the state remains the epicenter for cross-border criminal activity, said Patrick Bray, spokesman for the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association.

“Our folks continue to live with fear and anxiety and anger over this issue,” Bray said. “The federal government has failed all of them.”

Since its September 2009 launch, Bersin said the alliance has:

–Made 270,000 apprehensions of illegal border crossers between the ports of entry.

–Turned away 14,000 people at the ports of entry who were determined to be ineligible.

–Seized 1.6 million pounds of marijuana.

–Seized 3,800 pounds of cocaine.

–Seized 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine.

–Seized $13 million in illegal cash going south into Mexico.