September 22, 2012
By: Dave Gibson
examiner.com

On Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of International Affairs and Chief Diplomatic Officer for the Department of Homeland Security, Alan Bersin, told a gathering of the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce in Washington D.C.: "The Guatemalan border with Chiapas is now our southern border."

In a rather strange and rambling speech, Bersin went on to tout the cooperation between U.S. and Mexican authorities on policing our common border, and, despite the ever-increasing influence the drug cartels have over Mexico, he claimed the rule of law has been restored to the border region.

"The economy contributes to it but the enforcement posture in the United States has increased since 1993 in a way that was absolutely unforeseen. One of the great bipartisan accomplishments of the last generation, some would say the greatest accomplishment, Republicans and Democrats alike, was restoring the rule of law to the U.S.-Mexican border," Bersin said.

"This is a terrific period," he added.

Bersin went on to explain that a lower fertility rate in Mexico has been a tremendous factor in the current "remarkable" change we are seeing in regards to fewer Mexican nationals supposedly entering this country illegally.

"This huge bulge of Mexican men and women that have built much of the United States, my friends, over the last six decades, is no longer available. The source of low wage labor in the United States over the next generation is actually Central America and Southeast Asia. That is why we must work with Mexico to restore the rule of law to the Mexican-Guatemalan border over the next ten years, Bersin stated.

Of course, in reality, the border region has never been more dangerous, as evidenced by the murders of Arizona rancher Rob Krentz and Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Furthermore, in November 2011, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report identifying those entering the country illegally from Mexico as being responsible for more than one-third of the human-ignited wildfires in Arizona between 2006 and 2010.

According to the GAO, illegal aliens started 30 of 77 fires that were investigated during the five-year period. However, the actual number of fires which can be attributed to illegal aliens may be much higher as not all of the 422 human-caused fires were actually investigated.

The GAO report states: "The presence of illegal border crossers has complicated fire suppression activities in the Arizona border region," and has "increased concern about firefighter safety, and, in some instances, has required firefighters to change or limit the tactics they use in suppressing fires."

While it is more than puzzling why Bersin asserts that the Mexican government is actually policing the border with the United States, it is more than frightening that he believes our new "southern border" is with Guatemala.

However, it may explain why, under Obama, the Department of Homeland Security has been transformed into little more than a lobbyist firm for the Chamber of Commerce.

DHS official: ...'our southern border' is now with Guatemala - National Immigration Reform | Examiner.com