Drug cartels
are starting off the new year with a bang.
Over the holidays, a family of
Arizona
ranchers alerted authorities about growing cartel activity at the border, allegedly witnessing ”
MS-13 scouts
” on their land. Thousands of similar instances demonstrate that
border residents
are facing a real threat as drug cartels grow bolder.
UNIVERSITIES ATTEMPT TO THREAD NEEDLE AMID GROWING PUBLIC PRESSURE AGAINST DEI
Criminal gangs have begun
using drones
to transport weapons and drugs, running propaganda empires on
TikTok
, and
cutting directly through barriers
to smuggle people and goods into America. As
reported by law enforcement
, cartels are also sending smugglers with large groups of illegal immigrants into specific undesignated border crossing points to “distract” Border Patrol and local police. With these tactics, drug cartels stay one step ahead of law enforcement. Congressional fistfights over immigration policy leave local communities powerless against this criminal behemoth.
That needs to change. Border communities should have the tools they need to fight the cartels. It’s clear that Washington lacks the ability to address the problem alone. State governments must fill the gap.
Quick-fix solutions such as treating drug cartels like the next al Qaeda are not going to cut it. Currently, most (if not all) enforcement at the border is administered directly by the federal government through the Border Patrol. Municipal, tribal, and state law enforcement is often present to point Border Patrol in the right direction, but they rarely have any enforcement or detention powers unless a state law is broken on their territory. As a result, Border Patrol is stretched thin while local law enforcement is hamstrung.
In addition to the vast numbers of people entering America illegally, hundreds of thousands of pounds of illegal and lethal drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl were
smuggled by the cartels
into the United States in 2023. With no ability to detain or interrogate the average of
10,000 illegal immigrants
that cross every entry point daily, federal law enforcement has to allow them into the country. Despite this, the federal government is spending nearly $25 billion each year on the Border Patrol while local law enforcement begs for help.
States such as Texas and Arizona have already seen good results covering these gaps. Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) put in place an ”
arrest and jail
” policy in some areas of Texas, using misdemeanor trespassing laws to allow law enforcement the time to check illegal immigrants entering the state. While illegal crossings continue to rise, Abbott has looked to expand the program to the entirety of the Texas-Mexico border. These efforts help the U.S. Border Patrol focus their efforts and lower their backlog.
In some cases, Border Patrol has had to
close down ports of entry
due to a lack of resources, leaving local communities without border enforcement while immigrants cannot be screened or processed. When the Lukeville, Arizona, border closed last month due to capacity, Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) decided to deploy the Arizona National Guard to address the crisis, saying she would be “taking action where the federal government won’t.”
A total of around 2,500 National Guard service members
were stationed on the southern border, mostly at Lukeville and surrounding areas.
That model of shared responsibility when facing gaps could be the winning formula. Washington should encourage this collaboration instead of forcing border states to lash out, thus creating further animosity in an already paralyzed country. If anything, that may just save the federal government some headaches and maybe a few bucks.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM RESTORING AMERICA
Joseph Bouchard is a freelance journalist covering geopolitics in the Americas, with reporting experience in Colombia, Brazil, and Bolivia. His articles have appeared in The Diplomat, Mongabay, Responsible Statecraft, The National Interest, and Reason magazine. He is a contributor with Young Voices.
States can help secure the border
5
0
08.01.2024
Drug cartels
are starting off the new year with a bang.
Over the holidays, a family of
Arizona
ranchers alerted authorities about growing cartel activity at the border, allegedly witnessing ”
MS-13 scouts
” on their land. Thousands of similar instances demonstrate that
border residents
are facing a real threat as drug cartels grow bolder.
UNIVERSITIES ATTEMPT TO THREAD NEEDLE AMID GROWING PUBLIC PRESSURE AGAINST DEI
Criminal gangs have begun
using drones
to transport weapons and drugs, running propaganda empires on
TikTok
, and
cutting directly through barriers
to smuggle people and goods into America. As
reported by law enforcement
, cartels are also sending smugglers with large groups of illegal immigrants into specific undesignated border crossing points to “distract” Border Patrol and local police. With these tactics, drug cartels stay one step ahead of law enforcement. Congressional........
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