“Securing the border” on the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs
Washington,DC,USA -Land Lines Magazine, by Charlie Morasch -May 4, 2011: -- U.S. Sen. John McCain in a Senate hearing, criticized the Department of Homeland Security for not keeping up with escalating drug and smuggling cartel violence that has resulted in mass graves and executions of Mexican officials... “While we have had isolated incidents of violence that has come into the United States from Northern Mexico, if you take a step back, the police reports and crime reports, etc., do not indicate that we have that spillover,” Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, said. DHS claimed that this winter and spring there was a massive decline in illegal immigrants at the border, asserting the border situation has improved... Two sheriffs of Arizona counties that border northern Mexico have said border patrol agents are being told not to arrest every illegal border crosser, reportedly in an effort to keep statistics down... (Image from mexicotrucker: One of the largest seizures of drugs in US history was made in San Bernardino County by Deputies with Drug Interdiction Task Force - Jun 28 2010)
* Sheriff to Congress: Border worse, ‘bad people continue to come in’
Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Charlie Morasch -6 May 2011: ... Securing U.S. borders has been a primary concern since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and increased security for truckers at ports and border crossings... Sheriff’s offices along the U.S.-Mexico border say efforts to prosecute cartel workers in the mounting Mexican drug war are hamstrung by a lack of resources on both sides of the border... The situation is worsened because Mexico lacks the infrastructure “to properly arrest and prosecute criminal offenders,” said, leaving U.S. counterparts to do the heavy lifting... Cochise (AZ) County Sheriff, Larry Dever, said smugglers weren’t prosecuted for years in Arizona if they were found with less than 500 pounds of marijuana, and cocaine and methamphetamine thresholds also were high. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Deputy Chief, Ronald Vitiello, confirmed that drug thresholds are set locally, and are determined partially by the resources that area prosecutors have to file charges... “Violence has spilled over the border – and it will continue to be a part of our landscape until we control the border,” Dever told the U.S. House Security Committee’s Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee... (Photo from mexicotrucker)
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