Increasing Drug Seizures, Decreasing Arrests Along Border

The number of arrests along the United States –Mexico border has declined by 23% so far this year. An article in the Wall Street Journal reports that:

“U.S. border apprehensions dropped to 556,041 in fiscal year 2009 -- which ended Sept. 30 -- compared with 723,825 in the 2008 fiscal year. Border apprehensions have fallen nearly 67% decline since fiscal year 2000, when the border patrol made 1,675,438 arrests.”

Government officials have also said that as the number of arrests has fallen, the number of drug seizures has actually risen. The reason for increasing drug seizures, according to the Wall Street Journal article, is because the drop in arrests due to illegal border crossings has allowed the government to shift more of their resources toward illicit trafficking.

The decrease in arrests and increase in drug seizures has been attributed to a weak economy in the U.S. combined with tighter security along the border. The number of border patrol agents has increased from 11,000 in 2004 to 20,000 in 2009. Additionally, funding for the border patrol has risen from $6 billion in the 2004 fiscal year, to $10.9 billion in the last fiscal year.

Two recently reported drug seizures along the border were in the El Paso Times yesterday. The seizures both took place along the Fort Hancock Port of Entry, and included

• Two individuals caught crossing the border on Friday carrying 218 pounds of marijuana worth $170, 752.
• Two individuals being pulled over during immigration stop. After the vehicle was pulled over the driver and passenger fled. Later, 375 pounds of marijuana worth more $300, 275 were found inside the abandoned vehicle.

In the near future, expect to see this data being used by the Obama administration as a strategy to win support from Congress for an immigration overhaul. Also expect to hear some details about the administration’s plans this Friday when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano gives a speech at the Center for American Progress.

Related Material:

Border-crossers-bring-fear-of-Mexican-gangs

credits: border patrol image:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocosma/1427410581/

Perry to Deploy "Recon Rangers"

In what he is calling a move to make Texans more secure, Texas governor Rick Perry has announced the deployment of a special team of Texas Rangers along the Texas-Mexico border. The special team is being called the “Recon Rangers” and was described in the Fort Worth Star Telegram as “resembling a military style commando unit in a foreign war zone.” In addition to the recon team, Perry has asked that a 200 member task force of Texas’ National Guard be deployed to assist in the operations. Perry said that in August of this year the team of recon rangers began monitoring private farms and ranches where cartels and human trafficking activities are thought to occur.

In a speech in Irving, Texas on September 10, Perry said that the creation of the recon rangers is necessary because the federal government has not paid enough attention to violence on the Texas-Mexico border. "Texas continues to deal with the federal government's abject failure to secure our international border," and he added later that “I have no idea why Washington has been so averse to defending, securing the Southern border."



Some have accused Perry of using the border issue as a way to charge up his campaign. An article by the Houston Chronicle quoted Senator Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, as saying, “Rick Perry gets real revved up right around election time. From border cameras to failed DPS funding, his border security measures have been abject failures.” Some of the local officials have also voiced their opinions about Perry’s plan. Laredo’s mayor, Raul Salinas, said that he is glad that Rangers have been deployed but would “appreciate coordination and cooperation with local authorities, because we can be of assistance. … We're the first responders in combating the drug cartels.”