Why do we Tolerate Mexican Troop Incursions?

Duncan Hunter
08/14/2008

The men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol guarding the Southern land border come into constant contact with drug and human smugglers, criminals and migrants. Every so often, they even encounter Mexican military personnel making unauthorized incursions across the border into the United States.

The most recent Mexican military incursion occurred last week on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation in Arizona. According to reports, the Mexican soldiers crossed the border in a military vehicle and held a Border Patrol agent at gunpoint before escaping back to Mexico.

While the agent who was temporarily detained by the Mexican soldiers was not injured, there is no question that this incident could have ended differently -- especially when the soldiers and agent were armed, and backup was on its way to assist the officer. Nonetheless, this incident raises serious questions about the presence and activities of the Mexican military on the border.

A State Department spokesman, responding to the incursion in Arizona, said the incident stemmed from a “momentary misunderstanding.â€