By Laredo (TX) Mayor Raul Salinas
April 6, 2009

“In the United States, we need to do more to reduce demand for illicit drugs and stem the flow of weapons and bulk cash south across our borders. We applaud Mexico’s courageous stand against violent drug cartels…. The drug trade is a problem we all share and one whose ultimate solution we must devise together.”

– Vice President Joe Biden, March 27, 2009

The Obama Administration announced on March 24 a joint and coordinated effort between the Departments of State, Homeland Security and Justice to support the Mexican government’s crack down on Mexico’s drug cartels. Two days later in a speech given by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in Mexico, and in an op'ed authored by Vice President Biden, from which the above quote is taken, the Obama plan’s recognition of the United States’ obligations to assist Mexico and other Central American nations by cutting off the money and guns that flow to the cartels from the United States was made clear. As a life long public safety professional, it is clear to me that this effort reflects a law enforcement response, not just political posturing. I therefore welcome this opportunity to share my thoughts on this initiative with my fellow mayors, and I am grateful for the United States Conference of Mayor’s commitment to border and immigration issues, a commitment that has been reflected in USCM policy for the last ten years.

On the morning the Obama team was announcing its program, by coincidence, I was at the White House leading a delegation of Laredo’s local government officials. My colleagues and I had traveled to Washington to convey the message that, while Laredo is a very safe city with violent crime rates well below the national average, being proactive in responding to the challenges our neighbors and friends in Mexico are facing is the right thing to do. We were also there to point out that the border communities in general, and land port communities in particular, bear a great burden for the nation that has not been appreciated nor supported by the federal government.

Let me explain this point in the simplest terms: On the border, we cannot achieve hometown security unless there is homeland security; and federal resources have not kept pace with the demands being made of our communities. For instance, Laredo, despite being the largest land port in the nation and handling more cargo than all but three other trade centers (Long Beach/LA, New York and Detroit), receives no federal funding from the port security programs (those funds are limited to water ports) and receives no funding from the DHS Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI). I was therefore very pleased to see that the Obama Southwest initiative included plans to increase engagement with state and local border law enforcement professionals and make up to $59 million in funding available to the Stone Garden program that looks to enhance state, local and tribal law enforcement operations and assets along the border. Let me focus on why I believe of all the initiatives elements, this may produce the most benefit.

Much of my career with the FBI was spent working the border. From my experience, I understand a simple truth. We need more boots on the ground. As the mayor of a border community, I welcome the announcement of the increased number of DEA, ATF, Customs and Border Patrol agents that the plan calls for. Still, I especially welcome the commitment for funding more agents. For the best long term investment, the federal government can make for sustained border security is to help fund additional local police officers and support for public safety equipment such as interoperable radios and rescue craft. Such additional funding was one of the primary reasons I traveled last week to Washington.

The funding commitment to border law enforcement in the Stone Garden is welcomed. Operation Stone Garden provides funding to localities to enhance cooperation and coordination between federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in a joint mission to secure the United States borders along routes of ingress from International borders to include travel corridors in states bordering Mexico and Canada, as well as states and territories with international water borders.

In addition to Stone Garden, we believe the border should be viewed as part of the threat criteria the Justice Department has employed to distribute funding through its UASI program. As I mentioned previously, Laredo is currently not an eligible direct recipient of UASI funds, despite the role we play in protecting the border. Laredo has been a recipient of COPS funding in the past, and we hope that with its return to fuller funding in Fiscal Year 2009, that it will again serve as a resource for Laredo to populate our police force.

But funding is not the only reason we traveled to Washington. I brought our police chief, Carlos Maldonado, with me to make the case specifically that we need coordinated intelligence gathering between federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement professionals. Having served as FBI Senior Resident Agent in Charge on the border and another five years as an assistant legal attaché in Mexico City, I believe that intelligence gathering, like government, is best accomplished at the local level.

No one knows better what is happening in their neighborhood than the police officer engaged in community policing. A border resident that grows up to become a police officer has a better feel for a situation on the border than a well'meaning hard working federal law enforcement professional who is transferred to the border for a number of years. So while it is helpful that federal law enforcement agencies are better communicating, until they bring local law enforcement into that dialogue, the federal effort will lacked the best intelligence to be found. The Obama initiative recognizes that truth, and we look forward to enhanced dialogue. In fact, by the time you are reading this column, our police chief and I will have co'hosted a law enforcement summit among Texas border police and sheriff departments to which we have invited our federal counterparts.

Mexico’s President Calderon is serious about taking on the drug cartels. I am grateful that President Obama and his administration recognize Mexico cannot succeed unless we in the US reduce the demand for drugs and slow the flow of weapons and cash that flow south across our borders. Laredo is ready to do its part, but welcomes any assistance the federal government can offer. In Laredo, we are honored to serve on the front lines of homeland security, as we pursue hometown safety. A good start to these mutual goals is the recognition that there are two sides to every border.