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Security at the Southwestern Border

By Carin Zissis

The Obama administration unveiled a multiagency plan to ramp up security along the U.S.-Mexican border. The initiative, which involves bilateral coordination, comes on the eve of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Mexico.

On the eve of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Mexico, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security unveiled a multi-agency border security initiative. The move coincides with an upswing in media coverage about violence related to organized crime in the U.S-Mexico border region. The plan also focuses on bilateral efforts. “We are guided by two very clear objectives. First, we are going to do everything we can to prevent the violence in Mexico from spilling over across the border. And second, we will do all in our power to help [Mexican] President [Felipe] Calderón crack down on these drug cartels in Mexico,” said Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano as she outlined the plan.

A cornerstone of the new Southwest border initiative is stepped-up manpower. Through what DHS calls “strategic deployments,” more than 500 agents will be sent to the border as well as inside Mexico. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Border Enforcement Security Task Force staff will double, border intelligence agents will triple, and ICE agents inside Mexico will increase by 50 percent, reports Security Management magazine. The plan will also pump resources and allow for regular intelligence-sharing conference calls with state and local agencies in border regions. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives will deploy 100 agents to the border over the next month and a half as part of Project Gunrunner, which tackles arms smuggling.

Moreover, the border security plan involves using high-tech screening devices ranging from sophisticated x-ray units to license plate readers. Efforts to tighten border security and stop cross-border smuggling will occur in coordination with the departments of State and Justice, Napolitano told reporters in a March 24 briefing at the White House. The $700 million-plan draws funds from the Merida Initiative, a multiyear security pact, reports the Los Angeles Times. The plan does not involve sending National Guard troops to the border, despite requests from the governors of Texas and Arizona.

News reports about the plan point out the Obama administration’s focus on Mexico and a sense of cooperation as Washington recognizes its role in stemming money laundering and arms smuggling—both factors in Mexico’s drug cartel woes. “[F]or the first time, the administration said, government efforts will be aimed at stopping illegal traffic moving into Mexico as well as interdicting smuggling into the United States,” write Ginger Thompson and Brian Knowlton in The New York Times. The Christian Science Monitor posits that the plan could mark a “new era of co-responsibility.”

Speaking at a news conference, Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa said the plan is “consistent with our bilateral relation in fighting organized crime.” Mexico ramped up security on its side of the border recently, sending thousands of additional troops to Ciudad Juarez, the border city most affected by the violence.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Mexico appears to be ranking higher on the White House agenda. While Clinton will visit March 25 and 26 to talk about security and shared financial concerns, Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder head to Mexico next week. President Barack Obama stops in Mexico on his way to the Summit of the Americas in mid-April. Speaking at an AS/COA event on March 24, Mexico’s Ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan said he was “deeply impressed” by the Obama administration’s understanding of the bilateral relations. He also described the Merida Initiative—a $1.4 billion, 3-year cooperative plan—as the “added vitamins” to fight trafficking.

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