Mexican Drug Cartels and Terrorist Organizations - Research Paper Example

Illegal Immigration, Mexican Drug Cartels, and Terrorist Organizations Illegal Immigration, Mexican drug cartels, and terrorist organizations Borders between neighboring countries are important as they act as routes for trade and cooperation between countries. However, these borders become a risk factor especially when the local security and the abilities of the two bordering countries to uphold their own laws are different, or if their economic abilities differ significantly, for instance, between the Unites States and Mexico. What necessitates restriction of movement of persons from Mexico to the United States is that the lax law enforcement in Mexico makes her a threat to the peace and stability of the US. The United States then takes strict measures to screen individuals from Mexico before they venture into her territory. This does not usually mean the loss of trust between the two countries but only a measure to protect territorial integrity. In most cases, culprits are not necessarily Mexicans but citizens of other countries exploiting the lax law enforcement in Mexico and using her as a passage route into the land of opportunity, the US. Thesis statement Illegal immigration, Mexican drug cartels, and terrorist organizations entering the border have been an ever-increasing issue regarding the common-border security. Agencies Responsible For Security at US/Mexico Border The US-Mexico border has one of the highest numbers of cross-border movements compared to all other international borders in the world, being second only to the US-Canada border. In this respect, the US federal government has formed two main agencies to control and deal with issues arising from cross-border movements between the two countries. The United States Border Patrol (CPB) is a component of the Department of Homeland Security within Customs and Border Protection responsible for admission into the United States people born in foreign lands. Following the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2003, the major role of the USBP became that of controlling the entry of weapons through the Mexican or the Canadian border. However, its original mission of prevention, detection, and arrest of illegal immigrants remains. These immigrants are people who get into the country through other routes other than the official 33 interior checkpoints along the Mexican border, including those involved in illegal trade (Andreas, 2003). The other federal government agency dealing with cross-border issues is the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), which lies in the United States Department of Homeland Security. This agency is responsible for identifying and dealing with security weaknesses that affect national boundaries with other countries, the economy, transport and infrastructure. The main components of this agency are homeland security investigations, and enforcement and removal operations. Guiding the jurisdiction of the ICE are over 400 federal statutes. In addition to its local operations, the Agency has overseas bases in the US embassies in various countries (Andreas, 2003). The US/Mexico Border The border between US and Mexico is a flurry of activities due to the high numbers of people attempting to cross from one side of to the other. While some people cross the border legally, others do so illegally mostly due to lack of qualifications or ill motives. The security is generally low along this border due to the illegitimacy of activities going on resulting in human smuggling, death of immigrants and drug dealing cartel proliferation. Human Smuggling Human smuggling at the Mexico/US border is an industry of organized crime where thousands of transactions happen daily between the smugglers and non-US residents seeking settlement in the land of opportunity. Unscrupulous individuals have exploited people’s need to immigrate to the US and made it possible by charging fees for one to be moved across border. This has resulted into a booming business that as of 2003 had an approximate gross income of over $5 billion per year. However, in recent years, the situation has immensely changed with the emergence of organized syndicates due to increased potential of business and the heightened risk emanating from tough security measures. Despite paying exorbitant fees to cartels, many immigrants are deported back to Mexico since their contract with the cartels end once one sets foot on American soil. On average, it is estimated that the US gets over 350,000 immigrants from Mexico per year. The cost charged for smuggling per person was estimated to be up to $4,000 but has been on the rise due to increased risk, complexity of the process and the increase in demand for smuggling services (Kyle and Koslowski, 2001). Migrant Deaths along the Mexico/US Border Each year hundreds of immigrants die crossing the Mexico/US border mainly due to exposure ailments like heat stroke, dehydration, and hyperthermia. This number has been increasing steadily to an average of 500 also owing to the rise in illegal immigration rates. The process of smuggling people is riddled with various hardships that endanger the lives of immigrants and their porters. Since this process is illegal, the government does not provide any security to those involved, and as such, they are on their own in case of an attack or natural tragedies like diseases. Criminal organizations exploit the vulnerability of the immigrants and attack them with the intention of taking their belongings. Drug trafficking is characterized by violence especially when deals go bad, and since human smuggling routes are also the ones used for drugs, immigrants are usually caught in drug related violence leading to loss of lives. Since drug traffickers are usually the people who smuggle firearms across the border, disagreements during the trading process are settled by force resulting in gunfights leading to death of immigrants who may have been in the group. The other cause of death of immigrants is attacks by federal forces in their fight against cross-border crimes. In addition to exposure to unsafe conditions during their travel, illegal immigrants are also quite likely to be victims of other crimes including physical and sexual abuse among others (Cornelius, 2001). Issues Concerning Illegal Immigration Human smuggling results in loss of lives of both the immigrants and American citizens especially if the immigrants are criminals or terrorists. Immigration related deaths of US citizens average 12 per day. This is taking into account all the illegal immigrants that take to criminal activities once on American soil. Car accidents involving illegal immigrant drivers cause as many as 13 deaths of Americans each day. Compensation of accident victims is not possible since these vehicles are not insured as required by law. Drug trafficking and human smuggling go hand in hand because the people involved in one of the vices are also involved in the other. The southern border of the United States accounts for more than 80% of all the heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines imported into the country. This business is quite lucrative and increase in dealers has flooded streets with illicit drugs. This has tremendous negative effects on the youth and the general population as a whole. Competition for jobs between residents and illegal immigrants has resulted in increased unemployment to US citizens as the illegal immigrants do not have the necessary papers and are, therefore, willing to work at relatively low wages (Olivas, 2010). Terrorism is the other major result of illegal immigration. Since the immigrants into the US are not exhaustively screened and their motives are unidentified, these routes are used by terrorist groups to bring in their tools of trade. Terrorism is a major threat to the country as it has resulted in numerous deaths of innocent civilians. After crippling of the Al Qaeda terrorist group, Hezbollah, another terrorist organization operating at San Diego has emerged. Hezbollah is a Shi’a Muslim extremist group that used to operate in South America, then Central America alongside Hamas, who are their rival as well as their partner in crime. Hezbollah operators are highly trained in combat and survival, making the group as strong and advanced as the Chinese, Russians, and Cubans, in contrast to the once strong but crude Al Qaeda. Hezbollah poses more threat than Al Qaeda does because the former has strategic planning mechanisms making it hard to control. Based on its highly trained personnel, Hezbollah offers expertise and protection to drug cartels in exchange for money to fund the operations. This turn of events has escalated the intake of drugs into the country, influx of fake money, in addition to a sharp increase in the risk of terrorist attacks across the US (Hanson, 2010). Enforcing the Law at the Border Operation Fast and Furious Fast and Furious was a sting operation by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Phoenix Field Division between 2009 and 2010. This operation was part of project gunrunner started in 2006 to stem the proliferation of guns from Mexico to the southern states. The aim of the project was to allow firearms to change hands and move into Mexico or into the United States depending on the origin, and then confiscate the arms before they could be used in criminal activities. However, the plan had one major flaw; there was no justification whatsoever for allowing illegal trade to take place, good motives notwithstanding. It is virtually impossible to trace small firearms once they have changed hands. The operation was carried out like a research project with officers taking observing and taking notes like researchers instead of doing any activities related to law enforcement. In the end of the operation, only 600 of over 2500 firearms that were allowed to cross borders could be traced. Senior ATF officials in Washington approved on the mode of the operation, junior officers who expressed concerns were issued with threats of losing their jobs, and whistleblowers had their jobs terminated. The Operation - fast and furious - was a badly planned and a poorly implemented attempt to fight cross-border crime. Investigations are still going on to identify the real cause of the many flaws identified in the operation, though evidence points to a corrupt system and negligence of ATF senior personnel (Attkisson, 2011). Efforts in Detaining Criminal Aliens Immigration enforcement includes identification, arresting, detaining, prosecuting, imprisonment, and/or deporting of errant aliens. The department of homeland security is responsible for immigration enforcement through its two agencies, CBP and ICE. Inspectors situated at the various official entry points check immigrants for admissibility into the US. However, criminal investigators do the work of spotting, arresting, interviewing, and other measures against illegal immigrants. The Department of Homeland security made 1,291,142 arrests in 2005, a number that has been slowly but steadily rising over the years with the increase in immigration rates. This number accounted for 92% of all the apprehensions made in the US. This means that if illegal immigration was curbed, there would be a likelihood of lowering crime rates by a figure close to 90%. These values only account for apprehensions and not actual detentions. However, since the rates of both occurrences are directly proportional, it is safe to say that the immigration enforcement officers make an effort in curbing immigration related crimes, though there still remains more to be done to completely avoid the ill consequences of illegal immigration (Orrenius and Coronado, 2005). Hezbollah Overview Hezbollah is a Shi’a Muslim group based in Lebanon with militant and political activities aimed at rebelling against governments especially those with influence from the west. The group’s first intention on formation is to free Lebanon from invasion by Israel but after its mission was completed, it started on a mission of ‘liberating’ other countries. This has resulted in reference of the group as a terrorist outfit by the United States, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Egypt, Israel, Australia, and Canada. Hezbollah gets its major support from Iran and Syria with the former providing weapons, military training, and financial support, and the latter giving political support. After liberation of Lebanon from Israel, Hezbollah became part of the government and its military muscle became stronger. With this new development, Hezbollah decided to test its new strength on foreign soil, ending up in the US through the Mexican border. Through this border, the terrorist group established a relationship with drug and arm dealers for financial gain and to access the US. Since the screening done during immigration into the country would expose any terrorist elements, the illegal immigration procedures are invaluable to the Hezbollah as it is possible to move their wares across the border. It is, therefore, important to spare effort in the fight to control illegal immigration as failure to do so would result in terrorist attacks due to Hezbollah presence (Norton, 2009). Connection with Mexican Drug Cartels While there is surety of the existence of Hezbollah in South America, there are only leads pointing to its possible infiltration into the United States. In South America, there has been an increase in Middle East style of bombing as drug cartels fight against each other. Construction of immigration tunnels in a style similar to the one used in construction of firearm transit tunnels in the Middle East points out to likely involvement of Hezbollah in the US. This should be a real concern to the government and other stakeholders as there is no clear estimate of the actual extent of infiltration of the US by Hezbollah. Because of interaction with Hezbollah, the drug and immigration trades have gained momentum (Stern 2011). Gang Connections Before the rise of Hezbollah, there was organized crime. Once Hezbollah and other terrorist groups are established, they look for a suitable environment where they can utilize their acquired power, increase their resources and expand their scope. This is when they form a symbiotic collaboration with drug cartels, offering firearms and security to the drug cartels in exchange for revenue for use in terrorist activities. Therefore, the rise of Hezbollah has resulted in a rise in illicit drug trade and other revenue generating activities like human smuggling and trafficking (Wilson, 2007). Public Opinion and Policies Concerning Border Security At first, many residents wanted a limited number of illegal immigrants to stay in the country after finding their own way through. However, recent developments on the political, economic and security effects of high immigration rates have resulted in a change of attitude towards immigrants. Nowadays, most Americans would rather not have immigrants in the country; many consider immigrants a threat to the American people. Most Americans agree that it is important for border security to be heightened to control terrorism and the flooding of streets with illicit drugs. The American government should enact policies dealing with arrested illegal immigrants. The investigations department should heighten its operations to ensure detection, control, prosecution, and imprisonment of illegal aliens, drug dealers and terrorism suspects (Kobach, 2008). References Andreas, P. (2003). A tale of two borders: The US-Mexico and US-Canada lines after 9/11. Retrieved on 23 November 2011 from http://escholarship.org/uc/item/6d09j0n2.pdf Attkisson, S. (2011). "Congress starting ATF "gunwalker scandal" probe". CBS News (CBS). Retrieved on 23 November 2011 from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/10/earlyshow/main20070475.shtml Cornelius, W. A. (2001). Death at the border: efficacy and unintended consequences of US immigration control policy. Population and development review. Retrieved on 23 November 2011 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/2695182 Hanson, G. H. (2010). The economics and policy of illegal immigration in the United States. Retrieved on 23 November 2011 from https://www.ilw.com/articles/2009,1230-hanson.pdf Kobach, K. W. (2008). Reinforcing the rule of law: What States can and should do to reduce illegal immigration. Georgetown Immigration Law Review, Vol. 22. Retrieved on 23 November 2011 from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1270124 Krueger, A. B. (2009). Attitudes and action: Public opinion and the occurrence of international terrorism. Retrieved on 23 November 2011 from http://www.sciencemag.org/content/325/5947/1534.short Kyle, D., & Koslowski, R. (2001). Global human smuggling: Comparative perspectives. JHU Press. Norton, A. R. (2009). Hezbollah: A short history. Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics. Princeton University Press. Olivas, M. A. (2010). The political economy of the Dream Act and the legislative process: A Case study of comprehensive immigration reform. University of Houston Law Center. Retrieved on 23 November 2011 from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1554032 Orrenius, P. M., & Coronado, R. (2005). The effect of illegal immigration and border enforcement on crime rates along the US-Mexico border. San Diego: Center for Comparative Immigration. Retrieved on 23 November 2011 from http://ccis.ucsd.edu/PUBLICATIONS/wrkg131.pdf Stern, J. (2011). Small Wars Journal. Retrieved on 23 November 2011 from http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/journal/docs-temp/601-stern.pdf Wilson, G. I. (2007). On Gangs, Crime, and Terrorism. Defense and the National Interest. Retrieved on 23 November 2011 from http://fundunia.wapka.mobi/0/http://www.dracosecurityconsultants.com/draco_docs/GANGS%20CRIME%20TERRORISM.pdf Read More