Two Narratives along One Border

As the US House of Representatives approved a $600 million border securitybill August 10, polemics over the safety of the US-Mexico border intensified. In language reminiscent of Iraq and Afghanistan, New Mexico Democratic Congressman Harry Teague praised the passage of the 2010 Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriation Bill (6080) as a concrete gesture of support for the first-term representative''s border security surge.

Highlights of the bill, which passed unanimously last week in the Senate but awaits one last approval from the legislative body, include funding for drones, ATF, DEA and FBI border personnel and a 1,000-person Border Patrol strike force slated for deployment in most-needed areas, according to Teague's office. The appropriation also earmarks $10 millionfor investigators to stop corruption in the Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection.

"The boost in border security funding is critical in taking a serious stepin cracking down on border violence and protecting New Mexican families," Teague said in a statement.

Facing a tough election challenge from former Republican Representative Steve Pearce who is campaigning to win his old seat back, the freshmanlawmaker called on a recessed Senate to reconvene and take swift action to get the money rolling to the border. Teague represents New Mexico’s Second Congressional District, a vast area which encompasses counties on the US-Mexico border.

Teague is urging President Barack Obama to organize a White House summit to address the border violence crisis and make sure violence does not spill over into the United States.”

Parallel to the House action, a network of border human rights advocates, immigration reform activists and elected officials questioned the narrative of a dangerous US border.

Commissioned by the El Paso-based Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR),the results of a poll of 1,222 border residents reported the overwhelmingmajority of respondents-67 percent-said they felt safe living in theircommunities. An even higher number, 86.5 percent, reported feeling safe while walking or driving in their neighborhoods.

Conducted in mid-July by the Reuel Group, the poll surveyed residents of San Diego, El Centro, Yuma, Nogales, Douglas, Las Cruces, Brownsville, El Paso, Laredo, and McAllen.

"Politicians creating border policies need to talk to the people who actually live at the border instead of listening to pundits and opportunistic politicians set to score political points by fanning theperception that the border is out of control," said Fernando Garcia, BNHR executive director, in a telephonic press conference.

"It is time to rethink our border policy by increasing the quality and accountability of border enforcement, not the quantity of armed agents and soldiers on our southern border."

Among other speakers joining Garcia was El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles. The law enforcement official said people in his community were most concerned about graffiti and stray dogs.

"Extreme violence is just not happening here and we need to revisit how resources are expanded on the border," Wiles added. "That's the message to send the administration.”

Although so-called narco-violence ravages Mexican border cities, very little of the spill-over violence frequently talked about in the media has actually hit the US side. El Paso, for example, registered one murderfrom the beginning of the year through early August.

The issues of border security and violence will continue to be a live topic in El Paso this week. Scheduled for August 12 and 13 at the University of Texas at El Paso, Texas Congressman Silvestre Reyes annual border security conference is expected to draw law enforcement professionals, private security contractors, business leaders, electedofficials, academics, and government represenatives from both the US and Mexico.

The invited roster of speakers includes Jose Reyes Ferriz, mayor of CiudadJuarez; Arturo Sarukhan, Mexican ambassador to the US; Carlos Pascual, US ambassador to Mexico; Alan Bersin, commissioner of US Customs and BorderProtection; and R. Gil Kerlikowske, US drug czar, among many others. In addition to border security, the conference will discuss health care, commerce, drug demand reduction, and economic development. Immigration reform was not included in the initial program for the two-day meeting.


Kent Paterson writes for Frontera NorteSur of New Mexico State University.