U.S. tells of plans to deal with violence along border with Mexico

By: JournalNow Staff | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 13, 2009

WASHINGTON --

Legislators in Southwestern states concerned about drug violence in Mexico spilling across the border recommended tighter gun control and stronger law enforcement yesterday.

The violence -- which has claimed thousands of lives, mostly south of the border -- has been attributed to Mexican drug cartels, which one Homeland Security official described as the biggest organized-crime threat facing the United States. Roger Rufe, Homeland Security's head of operations, outlined the agency's plans for protecting the border, a response that includes -- but only as a last resort -- deploying military personnel and equipment to the region if other agencies are overwhelmed.

Echoing comments by President Obama a day earlier, Rufe said that there currently is no need to militarize the Southwestern border with Mexico, despite violence that threatens to migrate into the United States.

"We would take all resources short of DOD (Department of Defense) and National Guard troops before we reach that tipping point," Rufe told legislators on a House homeland-security subcommittee. "We very much do not want to militarize our border."

In recent weeks, Mexican President Felipe Calderon's government has deployed 700 extra federal police to Ciudad Juarez, a city across from El Paso, Texas, where local police have been swamped by drug violence. This month, 3,200 federal soldiers were sent to the city.

Tijuana and Culiacan are also hotbeds of violence, according to Andrew Selee, the director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Mexican officials say that 6,290 people were slain last year and more than 1,000 in the first eight weeks of 2009.

Rufe said that although the border violence is appalling, violent crimes have not increased as a result in U.S. border cities. Kidnappings are up, he said, but violent crime is down. "We're not so concerned, at least at this point, about that violence spilling over into our cities," he said.

The Homeland Security Department's representative in Mexico, Alonzo Pena, said that the violence there is not as dangerous to U.S. tourists as has been portrayed. This month, the ATF warned college students on spring breaks not to travel to parts of northern Mexico because it is too dangerous.