Thread: Outbound U.S. to Mexico vehicle checks criticized

Outbound U.S. to Mexico vehicle checks criticized

By STEWART M. POWELL
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Published: Friday, April 24, 2009 2:36 AM CDT

WASHINGTON - Local leaders and law enforcement officers from Texas and Arizona complained to the Obama administration Thursday that spot searches of Mexico-bound vehicles for firearms and bulk cash are spawning long delays at border crossings.

The officials from El Paso, Texas, and Tucson and Sahuarita, Ariz., used a meeting with advisors to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to urge greater federal spending for border

infrastructure and more coordination with local officials to avoid problems such as diverting local police to direct traffic toward impromptu roadside checkpoints.

"We're hearing (local officials') complaints more and more," said Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, the pro-immigration organization that sponsored the officials' meeting with administration officials.

"It seems to be a consequence of both countries taking greater responsibility for border security."

The Obama administration moved at least 360 federal law enforcement agents to the southwest border this month in the first phase of a crackdown on firearms and bulk cash shipments bound for Mexican drug cartels.

President Obama, in a policy turnabout, has ordered routine inspections of southbound vehicles in response to appeals by Mexican President Felipe Calderon for greater U.S. help in choking off the flow of guns and cash to the drug cartels.

While the community officials endorsed that effort, they also expressed concerns about the day-to-day impact of roving inspections that change location and duration on a daily or weekly basis.

Jose Rodriguez, El Paso county attorney, said two-to-three hour backups are costing local businesses lost revenue as well and damaging the environment as trucks spew exhaust for hours while inching toward inspectors.

Inspections of southbound vehicles "have never happened before," Rodriguez told reporters in a telephone conference call.

"As a result of the new initiatives that we have seen, El Paso has seen delays and problems going across into Mexico."

Rodriquez said he had asked federal authorities to have the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conduct an environmental impact study to gauge the impact of the added air pollution on local communities.

"Those impact statements are necessary to provide critical information to make whatever adjustments need to be made," he said.

Sylvia Aguilar, chief deputy sheriff for El Paso County, expressed concern about the diversion of local law enforcement officers to help direct traffic toward the new checkpoints.

Border checkpoints were not designed to handle southbound inspections, Aguilar said.

"We're not used to stopping cars going south so it is backing up (traffic) onto our interstates and it is causing quite an inconvenience," the officer said.

"We need to have an infrastructure that can handle that type of response."

Mike Friel, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, acknowledged Thursday that roving spot inspections of southbound traffic may be inconveniencing some travelers headed into Mexico.

But Friel said travelers' waits at the Laredo and El Paso ports of entry on Thursday ranged from "a handful of minutes" to up to 10 minutes in the worst-case scenario.

Friel said the two to three hour waits described by the local officials "did not ring true to me," adding: "Certainly we are cognizant of the impact that inspections have on travel and trade and we will conduct outbound inspections with that in mind."

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano addressed the concerns last Friday at the Border Trade Alliance International Conference.

The organization has pressed various administrations to enhance inspections to expedite the $830 billion in annual cross-border economic activity conducted at U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada.

"Obviously, one of the issues there (on the border) has been the speed with which we have implemented an outbound (inspection) strategy," Napolitano said.

"Literally, it was days between when I said we were going to do it, to when we had moved 360 agents to the southern border. And more are going to be coming."

Napolitano said she hoped to ease the backups by deploying smart inspection technology and persuading Mexican border agents to conduct some the southbound inspections.

She said the offensive had been successful in intercepting some southbound cartel drug proceeds and firearms purchased legally in the United States.

"The notion that there wasn't a river of cash and a flood of guns going into Mexico is a myth," Napolitano said. "There was (and) we want to stop that river."

http://www.lmtonline.com/articles/2009/ ... 041591.txt

INTERESTING

Why didn't we have southbound checks all along? Are we catching illegals leaving?

She said the offensive had been successful in intercepting some southbound cartel drug proceeds and firearms purchased legally in the United States.

"The notion that there wasn't a river of cash and a flood of guns going into Mexico is a myth," Napolitano said. "There was (and) we want to stop that river."

Some is not a "river" moobat. Is she for real?? The "river" flows one way...the flood of illegals coming into the US. She cannot be THAT stupid, can she?

Never mind, I forgot, she's part of the Smug One's joke of an administration.

Some is not a "river" moobat. Is she for real?? The "river" flows one way...the flood of illegals coming into the US. She cannot be THAT stupid, can she?

LOL....that's what I thought. They catch some going south-bound and a river going north and they'll concentrate on the some going south. No mention who is driving these vehicles either. Yes, she is that stupid. Comming here illegally isn't a crime, and the terriorists came from the Canadian border, and we're all radical nut jobs or terriorists, and racists. Ya, she's a few bricks short of a load, on the koolaid.

She said the offensive had been successful in intercepting some southbound cartel drug proceeds and firearms purchased legally in the United States.

I don't think anyone questioned there was a flow of money going back from the drug trade. I'm not convinced about the guns completely. If they were purchased legally, then doesn't that give you an indication that's there's a problem with dual citizenship, uncontrolled borders, etc. and such where people can play 2 ends against the middle? But either way, it's because they got IN here with the drugs and such and nothing has been done at the border to control it, people have been screaming about the crime and violence for years, and they called us racist. We KNOW they hide out with blessings in the exploding hispanic community (most of which are illegal), many who live in fear, not from us but from the gangs and such, but we were told to ignore that part. We know you don't send billions back to your country working for pennies on the dollar, like they said at first, so there HAD to be corruption going on across the board. But once again, we were told told to ignore it, we are racist.

It should be Mexico's responsibility to monitor traffic into their country.

We needed a reason for exit inspections? We are checking two-ways now? INTERESTING. lol Collecting the money as they exit, now these crooks will have to break out, too.

BP gets this money?

ReggieMay wrote:

It should be Mexico's responsibility to monitor traffic into their country.

I agree.