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 News from Around the Americas | June 2007 
Trouble on the Texas Border
 David Sanders - Arkansas News
| | Cars queued to cross the border from Texas into Mexico. |
Texas' border with Mexico, more than 1,200 miles, renders the Lone Star State the front line in the battle to control illegal immigration. For Texas officials, waiting on Washington to come up with a comprehensive solution is not an option.
Concern over illegal immigration and border security directly correlates with proximity. There are times when my eyes glaze over from the constant harping about how illegal aliens in Arkansas are taxing the social safety net, putting strains on public resources and causing a decline in property values. But, in Texas, the problems are more severe.
Violent crime committed by those who cross the border illegally is a harsh reality. According to the Texas governor's office, incidents of home invasion, extortion, torture, kidnapping and murder have increased in areas near the border and in cities like Houston, which has suffered dramatic increases in rapes and murders.
The threat is not from those who cross the border looking for work or a better way of life. Instead, Texas faces a more organized threat. Mexico's numerous criminal organizations dominate the production, transportation, and distribution of illegal drugs. Their reach extends into human trafficking, where smuggling one person into the United States can fetch a hefty sum, ranging from $1,500 to $50,000.
Texas officials know that the international gang MS-13 "works for and with Mexican organized crime to conduct enforcement operations on both sides of the border," according to a document provided by the Texas governor's office. It is estimated that the gang has 9,000 members in the U.S. illegally.
The Los Zetas are former Mexican commandos, who, after working for years to stop the drug trade for the Mexican government, now work for the drug cartels. According to state officials, the Zetas are active along the border and have been linked to numerous murders and kidnappings in the area.
Like the Zetas, the Kaibiles, the Guatemalan counter-insurgency group, have turned their attention to protecting organized crime along the porous Texas-Mexico border. The Texas Syndicate and Mexican Mafia are prison gangs working within the Texas penal system and in concert with other Mexican criminal organizations.
Larger, more organized criminal groups are hardly Texas' only concern. Foreign criminals acting alone or in small groups also have prompted attention from state officials. The enormous capacity for human smuggling is a "real concern." Texas officials fear the border may serve as a gateway for terrorist operatives and weapons of mass destruction to enter the country undetected.
Of the 135,035 illegal aliens apprehended in Texas in fiscal 2004 who were not of Mexican descent, 264 were "special interest aliens" or individuals from countries with known ties to terrorist organizations. The numbers were similar for fiscal 2005.
What is a real threat for Texas and other border states is a real threat for the rest of the country. Washington is paralyzed. The White House and key players in the U.S. Senate are myopically focused on granting amnesty to the estimated 12 million illegal aliens who are currently in the country.
The focus should be on sealing the border to stem the tide of illegal aliens and stop criminal elements.
David Sanders writes twice weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock and is a host of the Arkansas Education Television Network's "Unconventional Wisdom." His email address is DavidJSanders@aol.com. |
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