OBAMA'S LAWSUITS and ASSAULT ON THE AMERICAN STATE of ARIZONA HAS HELPED THE MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS TO TURN PHOENIX INTO THE NARCOMEX GATEWAY TO THE U.S. SOUTHWEST!
MEXICANOCCUPATION.blogspot.com
FAIRUS.org
JUDICIALWATCH.org
ALIPAC.us
*
THE LA RAZA CRIME TIDAL WAVE
NEARLY HALF OF ALL MURDERS IN CA ARE BY MEXICAN GANGS!
*
Pinal County Sheriff: Mexican drug cartels now control
parts of Arizona
Posted:
06/11/2010
CASA
GRANDE, AZ - Two men shot earlier this week could be the result of the ongoing
battle between Mexican drug cartels now spilling over deep into Arizona,
officials say.
Pinal
County investigators say an area known as the smuggling corridor
now stretches from Mexico's border to metro Phoenix.
The
area , once an area for family hiking and off road vehicles has government
signs warning residents of the drug and human smugglers.
Night vision cameras have
photographed military armed cartel members delivering drugs to vehicles along
Highway 8.
"We
are three counties deep. How is it that you see pictures like these, not
American with semi and fully automatic rifles. How is that okay?" asked
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.
Babeu
said he no longer has control over parts of his county.
"We
are outgunned, we are out manned and we don't have the resources here locally
to fight this," he said at a Friday news conference.
Five
weeks ago Deputy Louie Puroll was ambushed and shot as he tracked six drug
smugglers.
Sheriff
Babeu said the ambush mirrored military tactics.
Even
more disturbing, Babeu said the man who called in to 911 operators for help
seemed to know a lot about the sheriff deputy's case.
"He
told operators they could find him where the deputy was shot and talked about
our search helicopter. Things that were talked about on the news," Babeu
said.
When
operators asked the fatally wounded man how he knew the area, he claimed he
sold cantelope near mile post 150.
Both
men were found dead several hours later.
Detectives
say next to them was a Bushmaster automatic rifle used by police officers for
patrolling. It does not appear to be stolen.
Investigators
also revealed that an autopsy showed strap marks on one of the men that likely
came from hauling heavy loads, they suspect were drugs.
One
of the men, deputies say, was voluntarily deported seven times.
Babeu said he doesn't believe
the drug cartel problems will not be solved when SB 1070 becomes a law, or with
President Obama's promise of 1,200 troops spread out among four border states.
"It
will fall short. What is truly needed in 3,000 soldiers for Arizona alone,"
Babeu said.
*
KEEP THIS IN MIND AS YOU WITNESS OBAMA AND HIS LA RAZA
HISPANDERING ADMINISTRATION’S ENDLESS ASSAULT ON THE PEOPLE OF ARIZONA FOR MORE
“CHEAP” LABOR ILLEGALS, KNOWN TO HIM AS “UNREGISTERED VOTERS”.
Gov. Brewer: Most border-crossers are drug
'mules' for Mexican cartels
Expanding on comments made at a candidates' debate, Arizona Gov.
Jan Brewer said today she believes that most illegal immigrants crossing the
border are "mules" carrying drugs for Mexican cartels.
"I believe today, under the circumstances that we're facing,
that the majority of the illegal trespassers that are coming into the state of
Arizona are under the direction and control of organized drug cartels and they
are bringing drugs in," Brewer told the
Associated Press.
"There's strong information to us that they come as illegal
people wanting to come to work. Then they are accosted and they become subjects
of the drug cartel," she said.
During the June 15 Republican debate she said she believed that
most illegal immigrants did not enter the United States for work. She then
associated illegal immigrants with drug smuggling, drop houses, extortion and
other criminal activity, according to AP.
The state law she signed making it a crime to be in Arizona
illegally will take effect next month.
*
By Dennis Wagner, The Arizona Republic
On May 9, a 15-year-old girl
walked into Arizona through the San Luis port of entry, near Yuma, with 5
pounds of marijuana strapped around her belly, Customs and Border Protection
records show.
She was busted by customs officers.
Later that day, a 16-year-old boy tried the same thing with 2
pounds of cannabis taped to his legs. He, too, was arrested.
The marijuana, with a combined street value of $72,000, was
confiscated.
The juveniles — both U.S. citizens — were turned over to police,
but others keep taking their place.
In the past two years, Homeland Security officials have witnessed
a disturbing development along the Mexican border: kid smugglers.
"It's going up," said Michael Lowrie, a public-affairs
agent for the U.S. Border Patrol. "Not a whole
lot, but more than we've seen in, well, pretty much ever."
The Border
Patrol does not keep data
on juvenile drug runners caught trying to sneak into Arizona. Customs and
Border Protection records show 130 minors were caught attempting to bring drugs
through entry ports from Sonora into Arizona during fiscal 2009, an 83% increase over the
previous year.
Teresa Small, a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman in San
Luis, said narcotics organizations are recruiting American teens with claims
that they won't face major punishment if caught.
"Drug-trafficking organizations lead them to believe they
will not have a substantial sentence," Small said. Prison terms are not
uncommon for teen smugglers.
The problem escalated last year to a point where federal and local
authorities created programs to warn Yuma County students about the dangers and
consequences of drug smuggling. The federal campaign includes a presentation by
border agents.
Judge Maria Elena Cruz said she has noticed a surge of young
smugglers who are stunned when she orders them incarcerated.
Small said most of the youthful offenders are Americans with
family members in Mexico. She said port officers generally refer suspects to
local authorities for prosecution under Arizona law, rather than to the federal
justice system.
"One thing for sure: They will get the hardest punishment
possible," Small said.
Still, the cases pile up.
On June 24, Customs and Border Protection reported, a 16-year-old
American boy was arrested at the San Luis port of entry with cocaine taped to
his leg.
"They think they're going to get away with it or get a slap
on the wrist," Lowrie
*
SOMEONE SHOULD
TELL THE HISPANDERING OBAMA and his LA RAZA DEPT of JUSTICE THAT MEXICANS ARE
NOT A RACE, EXCEPT IN THEIR RACIST MINDS! LA RAZA “THE RACE” SUPREMACY MOVEMENT
IS FUNDED BY OBAMA WITH OUR TAX DOLLARS AND OPERATES OUT OF THE OBAMA WHITE
HOUSE.
BARACK OBAMA vs
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 9(legals) OF ARIZONA:
1. OBAMA HAS
TAKEN BORDER GUARDS OFF THE AZ BORDER TO HELP EASE THE MEXICAN HORDES OVER,
UNDER AND INTO OUR JOBS. HE HAS DONE THIS BY SABOTAGING E-VERIFY!
2. OBAMA HAS
PERMITTED MEX TRUCK DRIVERS OVER OUR BORDERS SO THEY CAN MORE EASILY TRANSPORT
DRUGS AND HUMAN CARGO. EVEN GEORGE BUSH, ALSO AN ADVOCATE FOR OPEN BORDERS WITH
NARCOMEX, WOULD NOT DO THAT!
3. WELFARE FOR
ILLEGALS IN MEX-OCCUPIED AZ IS SOARING. NOT ONE LEGAL VOTED TO BE LOOTED BY
MEXICANS.
4. NEXT TO MEXICO
CITY, THE LARGEST CENTER FOR MEXICAN KIDNAPPING IS PHOENIX. VIVA LA RAZA?
5. PHOENIX IS THE
CAPITAL OF MEXICAN HOME-INVASION AND CAR THEFT. VIVA LA RAZA?
6. OBAMA HAS SUED
AZ TO STOP THE STATE FROM REQUIRING IDS WHICH MAY PREVENT ILLEGALS FROM VOTING
FOR OBAMA… AGAIN!
7. OBAMA’S HOLDER
DEPT of LA RAZA JUSTICE HAS ARMED THE MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS AND SANDBAGS
CONGRESS’ ATTEMPTS TO INVESTIGATE.
*
WHERE’S THE REAL
RACISM?
“In Mexico, a recent Zogby poll declared
that the vast majority of Mexican citizens hate Americans. [22.2] Mexico is a
country saturated with racism, yet in denial, having never endured the social development
of a Civil Rights movement like in the US--Blacks are harshly treated while
foreign Whites are often seen as the enemy. [22.3] In fact, racism as workplace
discrimination can be seen across the US anywhere the illegal alien Latino
works--the vast majority of the workforce is usually strictly Latino, excluding
Blacks, Whites, Asians, and others.”
“PHOENIX –
Federal authorities said Wednesday they plan to sue an Arizona county sheriff
and his office over allegations of civil rights violations, including the racial
profiling of Hispanics.”
Justice Department planning to sue
Arizona sheriff Arpaio over alleged racial profiling
Published May
10, 2012
|
Associated Press
advertisement
PHOENIX – Federal
authorities said Wednesday they plan to sue an Arizona county sheriff and his
office over allegations of civil rights violations, including the racial profiling
of Hispanics.
The U.S. Justice Department has been seeking an agreement
requiring sheriff Joe Arpaio office to train officers in how to make
constitutional traffic stops, collect data on people arrested in traffic stops
and reach out to Hispanics to assure them that the department is there to also
protect them.
Arpaio has denied the racial profiling allegations and has claimed
that allowing a court monitor would mean that every policy decision would have
to be cleared through an observer and would nullify his authority.
DOJ officials told a lawyer for Arpaio on April 3 that the
lawman's refusal of a court-appointed monitor was a deal-breaker that would end
settlement negotiations and result in a federal lawsuit.
The "notice of intent to file civil action" came
Wednesday from Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez in a letter to an
Arpaio lawyer.
Perez, who heads the DOJ's civil rights division, noted that it's
been more than 100 days since the sheriff's office received the DOJ's findings
report and federal authorities haven't met with the Maricopa County Sheriff's
Office counsel since Feb. 6 to discuss the terms of a consent agreement.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Arpaio defended himself
in the face of the pending lawsuit.
"If they sue, we'll go to court. And then we'll find out the
real story," he said. "There's lots of miscommunication emanating
from Washington. They broke off communications.
"They're telling me how to run my organization. I'd like to
get this resolved, but I'm not going to give up my authority to the federal
government. It's as simple as that," Arpaio added.
Last December, the DOJ released a scathing report accusing
Arpaio's office of racially profiling Latinos, basing immigration enforcement
on racially charged citizen complaints and punishing Hispanic jail inmates for
speaking Spanish in Arizona's most populous county.
The DOJ also accused Arpaio of having a culture of disregard for
basic constitutional rights.
The civil rights allegations have led some Arpaio critics to call
for his resignation, including the National Council of La Raza, a prominent
advocacy group for Latinos.
The sheriff's office also is facing criticism over more than 400
sex-crimes investigations -- including dozens of alleged child molestations --
that hadn't been investigated adequately or weren't examined at all over a
three-year period ending in 2007.
Arpaio has apologized for the botched cases, reopened 432
sex-crimes investigations and made 19 arrests.
Separate from the civil rights probe, a federal grand jury has
been investigating Arpaio's office on criminal abuse-of-power allegations since
at least December 2009. That grand jury is examining the investigative work of
the sheriff's anti-public corruption squad.
The self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America has been a
national political fixture who has built his reputation on jailing inmates in
tents and dressing them in pink underwear, selling himself to voters as
unceasingly tough on crime and pushing the bounds of how far local police can
go to confront illegal immigration.
*
“PHOENIX – The state senator in Arizona who wrote the nation's toughest law against
illegal immigrants said Tuesday he's collecting support across the country from
legislators to challenge automatic U.S. citizenship to the children of illegal
immigrants.”
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2012/02/anchor-babies-arizona-fights-la-raza.html
*
ARIZONA IS A STATE UNDER OBAMA’S DEPT. of JUSTICE
ASSAULT. ALONG WITH THREE OTHER AMERICAN STATES, OBAMA HAS SHOVED HIS LA RAZA
SUPREMACY AGENDA OF OPEN BORDERS, SANCTUARY CITIES, DREAM ACTS, NO E-VERIFY, NO
I.D. TO INCONVENIENCE ILLEGALS VOTING!
WHILE OBAMA HAS STATIONED 2,500 TROOPS IN AUSTRALIA,
HE HAS REPEATEDLY SABOTAGED OUR BORDERS WITH NARCOMEX AND ASSURE THE MEX DRUG
CARTELS THAT MEX TRUCK DRIVERS COULD ENTER OUR BORDERS WITH THEIR HUMAN CARGO
AND DRUGS, SOMETHING WHICH BUSH PROHIBITED.
*
MEXICANOCCUPATION.blogspot.com
FAIRUS.org
JUDICIALWATCH.org
ALIPAC.us
Pinal County Sheriff: Mexican drug cartels now control
parts of Arizona
Posted:
06/11/2010
CASA
GRANDE, AZ - Two men shot earlier this week could be the result of the ongoing
battle between Mexican drug cartels now spilling over deep into Arizona,
officials say.
Pinal
County investigators say an area known as the smuggling corridor
now stretches from Mexico's border to metro Phoenix.
The
area , once an area for family hiking and off road vehicles has government
signs warning residents of the drug and human smugglers.
Night vision cameras have
photographed military armed cartel members delivering drugs to vehicles along
Highway 8.
"We
are three counties deep. How is it that you see pictures like these, not
American with semi and fully automatic rifles. How is that okay?" asked
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.
Babeu
said he no longer has control over parts of his county.
"We
are outgunned, we are out manned and we don't have the resources here locally
to fight this," he said at a Friday news conference.
Five
weeks ago Deputy Louie Puroll was ambushed and shot as he tracked six drug
smugglers.
Sheriff
Babeu said the ambush mirrored military tactics.
Even
more disturbing, Babeu said the man who called in to 911 operators for help
seemed to know a lot about the sheriff deputy's case.
"He
told operators they could find him where the deputy was shot and talked about
our search helicopter. Things that were talked about on the news," Babeu
said.
When
operators asked the fatally wounded man how he knew the area, he claimed he
sold cantelope near mile post 150.
Both
men were found dead several hours later.
Detectives
say next to them was a Bushmaster automatic rifle used by police officers for
patrolling. It does not appear to be stolen.
Investigators
also revealed that an autopsy showed strap marks on one of the men that likely
came from hauling heavy loads, they suspect were drugs.
One
of the men, deputies say, was voluntarily deported seven times.
Babeu said he doesn't believe
the drug cartel problems will not be solved when SB 1070 becomes a law, or with
President Obama's promise of 1,200 troops spread out among four border states.
"It
will fall short. What is truly needed in 3,000 soldiers for Arizona
alone," Babeu said.
*
KEEP THIS IN MIND AS YOU WITNESS OBAMA AND HIS LA RAZA
HISPANDERING ADMINISTRATION’S ENDLESS ASSAULT ON THE PEOPLE OF ARIZONA FOR MORE
“CHEAP” LABOR ILLEGALS, KNOWN TO HIM AS “UNREGISTERED VOTERS”.
Gov. Brewer: Most border-crossers are drug
'mules' for Mexican cartels
Expanding on comments made at a candidates' debate, Arizona Gov.
Jan Brewer said today she believes that most illegal immigrants crossing the
border are "mules" carrying drugs for Mexican cartels.
"I believe today, under the circumstances that we're facing,
that the majority of the illegal trespassers that are coming into the state of
Arizona are under the direction and control of organized drug cartels and they
are bringing drugs in," Brewer told the
Associated Press.
"There's strong information to us that they come as illegal
people wanting to come to work. Then they are accosted and they become subjects
of the drug cartel," she said.
During the June 15 Republican debate she said she believed that
most illegal immigrants did not enter the United States for work. She then
associated illegal immigrants with drug smuggling, drop houses, extortion and
other criminal activity, according to AP.
The state law she signed making it a crime to be in Arizona
illegally will take effect next month.
*
By Dennis Wagner, The Arizona Republic
On May 9, a 15-year-old girl
walked into Arizona through the San Luis port of entry, near Yuma, with 5
pounds of marijuana strapped around her belly, Customs and Border Protection
records show.
She was busted by customs officers.
Later that day, a 16-year-old boy tried the same thing with 2
pounds of cannabis taped to his legs. He, too, was arrested.
The marijuana, with a combined street value of $72,000, was
confiscated.
The juveniles — both U.S. citizens — were turned over to police,
but others keep taking their place.
In the past two years, Homeland Security officials have witnessed
a disturbing development along the Mexican border: kid smugglers.
"It's going up," said Michael Lowrie, a public-affairs
agent for the U.S. Border Patrol. "Not a
whole lot, but more than we've seen in, well, pretty much ever."
The Border
Patrol does not keep
data on juvenile drug runners caught trying to sneak into Arizona. Customs and
Border Protection records show 130 minors were caught attempting to bring drugs
through entry ports from Sonora into Arizona during fiscal 2009, an 83% increase over the
previous year.
Teresa Small, a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman in San
Luis, said narcotics organizations are recruiting American teens with claims
that they won't face major punishment if caught.
"Drug-trafficking organizations lead them to believe they
will not have a substantial sentence," Small said. Prison terms are not
uncommon for teen smugglers.
The problem escalated last year to a point where federal and local
authorities created programs to warn Yuma County students about the dangers and
consequences of drug smuggling. The federal campaign includes a presentation by
border agents.
Judge Maria Elena Cruz said she has noticed a surge of young
smugglers who are stunned when she orders them incarcerated.
Small said most of the youthful offenders are Americans with
family members in Mexico. She said port officers generally refer suspects to
local authorities for prosecution under Arizona law, rather than to the federal
justice system.
"One thing for sure: They will get the hardest punishment
possible," Small said.
Still, the cases pile up.
On June 24, Customs and Border Protection reported, a 16-year-old
American boy was arrested at the San Luis port of entry with cocaine taped to
his leg.
"They think they're going to get away with it or get a slap
on the wrist," Lowrie
JUDICIAL WATCH.... get on their free emails
Obama Administration Hostile to Illegal Immigration Enforcement
The Obama administration is once again undermining the enforcement of our nation's immigration laws.
Last week I told you about the administration's attempts to undermine 287(g), a highly successful federal program that trains local law enforcement officers in illegal immigration enforcement techniques. Well, this week, two stories hit the press that show just how far the administration is willing to go to protect illegal alien criminals and punish law enforcement officers who are simply doing their jobs.
First, as reported by The Associated Press, the Obama administration is taking another swipe at one of its favorite bogeymen, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, known as "America's toughest Sheriff" for his no-nonsense approach to enforcing the law, including laws against illegal immigration. Here's the scoop:
An Arizona sheriff known for aggressively cracking down on illegal immigration has been stripped of some of his special power to enforce federal immigration law, and he claims the Obama administration is taking away his authority for political reasons.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose office faces racial profiling allegations over crime and immigration sweeps in some heavily Latino areas of metro Phoenix, said officials from Washington won't let him renew a deal that let his deputies make federal immigration arrests.
Make no mistake. This move by the Obama administration is a strong message to local police departments: "If you seek to enforce immigration laws, we will strip you of your power." When taken in context with the "reforms" to 287(g) that we discussed last week, it is clear the administration is intent on not only undermining, but completely dismantling the 287(g) program and any effort by local law enforcement officers to assist the relatively small cadre of federal agents responsible for enforcing immigration laws.
(By the way, you may recall Judicial Watch Director of Research and Investigations Chris Farrell led a congressional delegation to Arizona in July to assess the situation at the nation's southern border. This included a tour of Sheriff Arpaio's "Tent City Jail." Click here for more information.)
The good news is Sheriff Arpaio won't back down and will continue to enforce the law.
But the attack on 287(g) and the good sheriff is not the only tactic by this administration to undermine the rule of law. The Wall Street Journal reported this nugget earlier in the week:
The Obama administration is expected on Tuesday to unveil an outline of sweeping changes for the nation's immigration-detention system, saying it will decide whom to lock up and for how long based on the danger and flight risk posed by detainees...
...Until now, the Obama administration has been reluctant to revise detention standards, which were updated late in the administration of former President George W. Bush. The immigration detention system expanded dramatically during the Bush years as the government took a much tougher line against illegal immigrants.
The Obama administration's reforms include the construction of new and improved detention facilities, increased medical care, improved "custodial conditions" and a new "classification system" for illegal alien detainees. (The Obama administration believes holding illegal aliens who are marked for deportation in jail cells is cruel and unusual punishment. One proposed reform suggests putting them up in hotels and nursing homes instead!)
Leftists and their media allies have systematically been attacking the current detention system for the last two years. They are seemingly opposed to any detention system (hence, the Obama administration's emphasis on getting alien criminals out of jail).
The fact is many of the illegal aliens being "detained" in jails are simply awaiting deportation after having served time for other crimes, including crimes of violence. The federal government reimburses localities for jailing these bad guys. Certainly makes sense from a public safety perspective.
Of course, the whole idea of the Obama plan is to bring the entire system under federal control, which apparently means more money and less enforcement. Signs point to expensive "Club Feds" for illegal alien criminals.
So the twofer from the Obama administration this week is this: don't arrest illegal aliens and coddle them if they are arrested.
And so the illegal alien crisis will continue.
*
From the Los Angeles Times
Opinion
Mexico's bloody drug war
The drug violence in Mexico rivals death tolls in Iraq.
By David Danelo
December 10, 2008
On Nov. 3, the day before Americans elected Barack Obama president, drug cartel henchmen murdered 58 people in Mexico. It was the highest number killed in one day since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006. By comparison, on average 26 people -- Americans and Iraqis combined -- died daily in Iraq in 2008. Mexico's casualty list on Nov. 3 included a man beheaded in Ciudad Juarez whose bloody corpse was suspended along an overpass for hours. No one had the courage to remove the body until dark.
The death toll from terrorist attacks in Mumbai two weeks ago, although horrible, approaches the average weekly body count in Mexico's war. Three weeks ago in Juarez, which is just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, telephone messages and banners threatened teachers that if they failed to pay protection money to cartels, their students would suffer brutal consequences. Local authorities responded by assigning 350 teenage police cadets to the city's 900 schools. If organized criminals wish to extract tribute from teachers, businessmen, tourists or anyone else, there is nothing the Mexican government can do to stop them. For its part, the United States has become numb to this norm.
As part of my ongoing research into border issues, I have visited Juarez six times over the last two years. Each time I return, I see a populace under greater siege. Residents possess a mentality that increasingly resembles the one I witnessed as a Marine officer in Baghdad, Fallouja and Ramadi.
"The police are nothing," a forlorn cab driver told me in September. "They cannot protect anyone. We can go nowhere else. We live in fear."
An official in El Paso estimated that up to 100,000 dual U.S.-Mexican citizens, mostly upper middle class, have fled north from Juarez to his city this year. Only those lacking means to escape remain.
At the same time, with the U.S. economy in free fall, many illegal immigrants are returning south. So illegal immigration -- the only border issue that seems to stir the masses -- made no splash in this year's elections. Mexico's chaos never surfaced as a topic in either the foreign or domestic policy presidential debates.
Despite the gravity of the crisis, our closest neighbor has fallen off our political radar. Heaven help you if you bring up the border violence at a Washington dinner party. Nobody -- Republican or Democrat -- wants to approach this thorny discussion.
Mexico, our second-largest trading partner, is a fragmenting state that may spiral toward failure as the recession and drug violence worsen. Remittances to Mexico from immigrant labor have fallen almost 20% in 2008. Following oil, tourism and remittances, drugs are the leading income stream in the Mexican economy.
While the bottom is dropping out of the oil and tourism markets, the American street price of every narcotic has skyrocketed, in part because of recent drug interdiction successes along the U.S. border.
Unfortunately, this toxic economic cocktail also stuffs the cartels' coffers. Substitute tribal clans for drug cartels, and Mexico starts to look disturbingly similar to Afghanistan, whose economy is fueled by the heroin-based poppy trade.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Obama's pick for Homeland Security director, has argued for permanently stationing National Guard troops along the border. That response alone will do little to assuage American border citizens. To them, talk of "violence bleeding over" is political pabulum while they watch their southern neighbors bleed.
If Napolitano wishes to stabilize the border, she will have to persuade the Pentagon and the State Department to take a greater interest in Mexico. Despite Calderon's commendable efforts to fight both the cartels and police corruption, this struggle shows no signs of slowing. When 45,000 federal troops are outgunned and outspent by opponents of uncertain but robust size, the state's legitimacy quickly deteriorates.
The Mexican state has not faced this grave a challenge to its authority since the Mexican revolution nearly a century ago.
If you want to see what Mexico will look like if this pattern continues, visit a border city like Tijuana, where nine beheaded bodies were discovered in plastic bags 10 days ago. Inhale the stench of decay. Inspect the fear on the faces. And then ask yourself how the United States is prepared to respond as Mexico's crisis increasingly becomes our own.
David J. Danelo is the author of "The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexican Divide" and "Blood Stripes: The Grunt's View of the War in Iraq."
December 10, 2008
On Nov. 3, the day before Americans elected Barack Obama president, drug cartel henchmen murdered 58 people in Mexico. It was the highest number killed in one day since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006. By comparison, on average 26 people -- Americans and Iraqis combined -- died daily in Iraq in 2008. Mexico's casualty list on Nov. 3 included a man beheaded in Ciudad Juarez whose bloody corpse was suspended along an overpass for hours. No one had the courage to remove the body until dark.
The death toll from terrorist attacks in Mumbai two weeks ago, although horrible, approaches the average weekly body count in Mexico's war. Three weeks ago in Juarez, which is just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, telephone messages and banners threatened teachers that if they failed to pay protection money to cartels, their students would suffer brutal consequences. Local authorities responded by assigning 350 teenage police cadets to the city's 900 schools. If organized criminals wish to extract tribute from teachers, businessmen, tourists or anyone else, there is nothing the Mexican government can do to stop them. For its part, the United States has become numb to this norm.
As part of my ongoing research into border issues, I have visited Juarez six times over the last two years. Each time I return, I see a populace under greater siege. Residents possess a mentality that increasingly resembles the one I witnessed as a Marine officer in Baghdad, Fallouja and Ramadi.
"The police are nothing," a forlorn cab driver told me in September. "They cannot protect anyone. We can go nowhere else. We live in fear."
An official in El Paso estimated that up to 100,000 dual U.S.-Mexican citizens, mostly upper middle class, have fled north from Juarez to his city this year. Only those lacking means to escape remain.
At the same time, with the U.S. economy in free fall, many illegal immigrants are returning south. So illegal immigration -- the only border issue that seems to stir the masses -- made no splash in this year's elections. Mexico's chaos never surfaced as a topic in either the foreign or domestic policy presidential debates.
Despite the gravity of the crisis, our closest neighbor has fallen off our political radar. Heaven help you if you bring up the border violence at a Washington dinner party. Nobody -- Republican or Democrat -- wants to approach this thorny discussion.
Mexico, our second-largest trading partner, is a fragmenting state that may spiral toward failure as the recession and drug violence worsen. Remittances to Mexico from immigrant labor have fallen almost 20% in 2008. Following oil, tourism and remittances, drugs are the leading income stream in the Mexican economy.
While the bottom is dropping out of the oil and tourism markets, the American street price of every narcotic has skyrocketed, in part because of recent drug interdiction successes along the U.S. border.
Unfortunately, this toxic economic cocktail also stuffs the cartels' coffers. Substitute tribal clans for drug cartels, and Mexico starts to look disturbingly similar to Afghanistan, whose economy is fueled by the heroin-based poppy trade.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Obama's pick for Homeland Security director, has argued for permanently stationing National Guard troops along the border. That response alone will do little to assuage American border citizens. To them, talk of "violence bleeding over" is political pabulum while they watch their southern neighbors bleed.
If Napolitano wishes to stabilize the border, she will have to persuade the Pentagon and the State Department to take a greater interest in Mexico. Despite Calderon's commendable efforts to fight both the cartels and police corruption, this struggle shows no signs of slowing. When 45,000 federal troops are outgunned and outspent by opponents of uncertain but robust size, the state's legitimacy quickly deteriorates.
The Mexican state has not faced this grave a challenge to its authority since the Mexican revolution nearly a century ago.
If you want to see what Mexico will look like if this pattern continues, visit a border city like Tijuana, where nine beheaded bodies were discovered in plastic bags 10 days ago. Inhale the stench of decay. Inspect the fear on the faces. And then ask yourself how the United States is prepared to respond as Mexico's crisis increasingly becomes our own.
David J. Danelo is the author of "The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexican Divide" and "Blood Stripes: The Grunt's View of the War in Iraq."
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