Segel: Border Security - Decades of Federal Failure

By Thomas D. Segel May 21, 2010 5:33 AM

Those who live along the Texas-Mexico border have a much greater insight into the problems of illegal immigration and border crime than is found among those who live deep inside our nation's interior. Rarely does a day pass without reports of drug busts or the apprehension of individuals who have violated our national boundary.

Just one week ago, 32 undocumented aliens were found hiding in a Harlingen stash house. A Rio Grande Valley border rancher reports that a constant stream of people march across his land almost daily, often killing livestock for food. Illegal aliens have even been found hiding inside the dumpsters and in the back yards and out buildings of Valley residents. All of this is taking place while the federal government tells us the flow of illegal immigrants has been significantly reduced and crime is not crossing the border.

Why does this happen? First of all, Mexico depends upon the huge inflow of dollars sent home by workers in the USA to support a sagging economy.

American business, with major support from the Republican Party, enjoys the cheap labor provided by this immigrant flow. It is also well understood that the Democrat Party strongly supports wide spread amnesty for all illegal aliens, viewing them as future Party votes.

On the crime side of the situation, illegal aliens are often used as mules to bring narcotics into the United States. Also the border is unprotected for hundreds of miles, thus allowing easy criminal access to this country.

Those living in border communities have heard these explanations for decades. They have also seen the complete failure of the federal government to provide the nation with border security.

But, all of these items are really old news. They have been repeatedly reported in various forms. Our government has also repeatedly ignored the concerns expressed.

Right now a bit more attention has been directed to the border troubles because of the recently passed Arizona immigration law and the increased violence brought about by the Mexican narco-wars.

The claim is officials are "making sure" the violence does not spill over into the United States. What hasn't been explained is why we have had an increase in gangland style killings in South Texas, or why reported kidnappings on this side of the border have escalated. The government keeps very quiet about any linkage between such acts and the border drug cartels. At the same time there are more and more seizures of smuggled narcotics on the United States side of the border.

The latest of the cross-border crime capers has taken place on the water of Falcon Lake in Starr County. This huge reservoir supplies water to both countries. About mid-point in the lake is the international boundary. In recent weeks, Americans fishing from boats on Falcon Lake have been attacked from armed boats and robbed at gunpoint. Those boats were launched from the Mexico side of the vast lake.

Nine months ago, Texas Governor Rick Perry dispatched special teams of Texas Rangers to the border to assist in battling the increased cross-border crime plaguing his state. He has also had increased funding provided to border area law enforcement to aid the officers in combating the ever-growing Mexican crime element.

It has been two years since Perry started pleading for the federal government to send National Guard forces to the border region. As of now, that request remains unanswered.

Just as the federal government has done next to nothing for the people of Arizona, except threaten legal action against the state, it has been equally neglectful of Texas.

The Lone Star State has 1254 miles of the total 1900-mile border between Mexico and the United States, but even the promised border fencing to help with stopping illegal traffic remains incomplete. The electronic surveillance highly praised by Homeland Security has been proven a failure. The equipment cannot even distinguish between a human being and tumbleweed. More border patrol officers have been added, but they are out gunned and out manned by the Mexican criminals who are becoming increasingly emboldened by the lack of government action to curtail their border crime.

As of now, the southern border of the United States remains a revolving door for illegal immigration and cross-border crime. The federal government talks a good game of defending the border. The reality is Washington still only provides lip service to the problem.

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