Thread: N.M.: Border violence concerns state officials

Border violence concerns state officials


By ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 10, 2007

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) _ New Mexico's two U.S. senators on Thursday asked federal agencies responsible for security at the border and fighting drugs to do more against growing drug-related violence around the small southern New Mexico town of Columbus.

Two men were killed and another was injured in a shooting Monday in the Mexican city of Palomas, a few miles south of Columbus. Two days later, a U.S. citizen who lives in Palomas drove his bullet-riddled truck to the Columbus port of entry and was taken to a Texas hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.

Authorities have said the violence appears to be part of an escalating drug war on the Mexican side of the border.

Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Pete Domenici, R-N.M., sent letters to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales seeking help to assure the security of southern New Mexico and to combat drug-related warfare.


They asked Chertoff to consider increasing Border Patrol and Customs agents in the area and asked Gonzales to send in more Justice Department narcotics teams. By Thursday evening, Domenici said he was assured that immigration and customs would beef up their presence on the border.

"We do not want the Columbus-Palomas crossing to be seen as a weak spot for drug traffickers and the violence that follows them," Domenici said in the release. "These thugs are not playing with sticks and stones, and we shouldn't be either."

"While the violence is primarily a problem for the Mexican government to solve, it is important for us to ensure our federal authorities are engaged in the situation," Bingaman said in a news release.

Claudia Banuelos, a spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office of northern Chihuahua, said Mexican authorities have dispatched extra state and federal police to Palomas.

Palomas and Columbus, population 2,000, have many close economic and family ties.

Domenici and Bingaman sent representatives to Luna County on Wednesday to be briefed. They also asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to work with her Mexican counterparts to control violence in the Palomas area.

Domenici said Thursday the State Department is trying to determine whether the recent shootings are isolated incidents or are part of a changing pattern of violence along the border.

Gov. Bill Richardson has ordered state police officers to increase their presence in and around Columbus.

"People are very scared," said state police Capt. Eddie Flores, who is stationed in Deming, north of Columbus. "People are worried about their safety and on alert. They know that this is very unusual."

Attorney General Gary King, addressing other border violence, said Thursday his office will participate in this week's events in Santa Fe marking the deaths and disappearances of hundreds of women in the Mexican city of Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. Most of the victims of the 10 years of violence have been women between the ages of 17 and 22.

King said the attorney general's border violence division has been helping its Mexican counterparts investigate and prosecute and prevent such crimes in the future.

The Santa Fe event, called "Ni Una Mas!" or Not One More, includes a Saturday panel discussion, a vigil and a fundraiser.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/61529.html

Authorities have said the violence appears to be part of an escalating drug war on the Mexican side of the border.

As illegal alien anarchy swells here in America the Mexican drug war will spill over into our country. The hand wringing and finger pointing in Washington should be entertaining to watch.

I wonder what Bill Richardson has to say about this.

Originally Posted by had_enuf

I wonder what Bill Richardson has to say about this.

HE SAYS: NOT MY FAULT!!! Help me.........Help me

Originally Posted by 2ndamendsis

Originally Posted by had_enuf

I wonder what Bill Richardson has to say about this.

HE SAYS: NOT MY FAULT!!! Help me.........Help me

No doubt about it!

And I heard Gov. Richardson wants open borders?
~~~~~~~~~

N.M., Chihuahua to work together on border violence

SANTA FE (AP) - New Mexico State Police officers and their counterparts from the Mexican state of Chihuahua have agreed to work together and boost their presence along the border due to a rash of violence.

Gov. Bill Richardson says he and Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza have agreed to take measures to keep residents in Columbus, N.M., and the Mexican border town of Palomas safe.

They will also continue to monitor the situation.

Two men were killed and another was injured in a shooting May 7 in Palomas, a few miles south of Columbus.

Two days later, a man drove his bullet-riddled truck to the Columbus port of entry and was taken to a Texas hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.

Authorities say the violence appears to be part of an escalating drug war on the Mexican side of the border.


http://kob.com/article/stories/S84938.shtml?cat=504

N.M., Ariz. governors protest fed response to border violence

May 15, 2007
SANTA FE (AP) - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano have accused the federal government of doing little to find a permanent solution to immigration problems and recurring violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The governors complained in a letter sent Tuesday to President Bush that the lawlessness along the border has been punctuated recently with killings that have impacted several Arizona and New Mexico communities — namely Columbus, N.M.

Several people have been killed in recent weeks in the Mexican border town of Palomas, just south of Columbus.

Richardson and Napolitano, both Democrats, also voiced concerns about the number of National Guard troops along the border possibly being reduced this summer.

They say more Border Patrol agents need to be trained and assigned to the region and that legislation authorizing fencing along the border would not have prevented the recent violence.


http://kob.com/article/stories/S86072.shtml?cat=504