On Border, Drug Fight Overshadowed as Attention Shifts to Immigrants June 11, 2008
News Summary
Drugs and guns continue to flow over the U.S.-Mexico border as more resources have been directed toward halting illegal immigration, the El Paso Times reported June 9.
Tony Payan, political science professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, said the border-control system at land ports of entry is "designed to stop illegal immigration, undocumented workers, not so much for drugs."
The budget for the U.S. Border Patrol rose 58 percent last year, but the budget for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, which oversees ports, rose only 11 percent. Payan said that drug cartels usually use ports, not remote border crossings, to smuggle their most valuable commodity, cocaine, to the U.S. The drug typically is hidden in merchandise or vehicles.
"The U.S. has to invest more in high tech for the traffic at ports of entry," Payan said.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that the Customs and Border Protection agency needs $4 billion in infrastructure improvements and new staff. The agency said that inspections at border crossings were often haphazard, and that border agents were poorly trained, overworked, and had low morale.
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