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Partners or Adversaries?

A STRYKER | U.S. Army armored combat vehicle seen from the Mexican side. (Photo/Morgan Smith)

Collaboration with Mexico begins at our border

Morgan Smith

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“Sir, do you mind if we conduct a search?” the US Custom and Border Protection agent asked me as he and four other agents surrounded my car. “I’m thrilled,” I answered. “I’ve made hundreds of border crossings and this is the first time there has been a check for weapons.”

It was Easter Sunday and we were at the Sasabe Port of Entry south of Tucson. I was planning to cross the border, take a few photos in tiny Sasabe which had been the scene of a deadly cartel war a few years ago, and then return to Green Valley where I was staying with my wife.

I told the officers how much I appreciated this change of policy as they went through my car, even pulling out the spare tire and looking underneath. However, in subsequent crossings in the center of Juárez on May 3 and in Palomas on May 9, there were no agents in the Mexico – bound lane doing checks.

I have to assume that the search at the Sasabe port was because the agents had little traffic and were just bored. On May 3, Mexico’s President Claudio Sheinbaum said she was rejecting President Trump’s proposal to send American troops into Mexico to combat drug cartels. “ Sovereignty is not for sale,” she indicated.

In a less publicized but equally important comment, she said that she had urged President Trump to do more to curtail the flow of weapons from the US into Mexico. Nothing has really happened despite the obvious link between weapons from the US and the strength of the cartels.

ON DUTY OFFICERS | Nicole Galvan and Orlando Marrero at the border wall.

Each country must assume responsibilities

Here is an example of how deadly this can be. Back on June 26, 2020 Omar García Harfuch, then the chief of police for Mexico City was ambushed by 28 gunmen and shot three times on the Paseo de la Reforma, a major boulevard in Mexico City.

Two of his body guards were killed as well as a woman bystander. 50 Caliber weapons were used. What police force anywhere could stand up against that kind of fire power? Now Harfuch is the Secretary for Security and Civilian protection for the whole country, making him Mexico’s highest law enforcement official.

He was appointed to both positions by Sheinbaum., first in her role as Mayor of Mexico City and now as President. If someone of his stature can be attacked in broad daylight in the capitol city with 50 caliber weapons, the need to control the flow of weapons into Mexico should be obvious.

Partners or Adversaries?

Now US Senator from New Mexico, Ben Ray Luján has taken the lead on this issue with a May 9 letter to Cabinet Secretaries Kristi Noem, and Mario Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi urging the same.

He’s joined by a number of Democrats including Senator Martin Heinrich and Congressman Gabe Vasquez from New Mexico. In his letter, he states that “In fact, anywhere from 200,000 to 500,000 ( weapons) are smuggled into Mexico every single year and a whopping 70 percent of firearms recovered at crime scenes in Mexico are traced to the U.S.” We’ll see what the response is to his letter.

Resolving the issues of smuggling drugs and migrants into the US will take cooperation on both sides. For example, Sheinbaum has also stated that the “war on drugs” is our war in that we are the world’s largest consumer of illegal drugs both in total and on a per capita basis.

Partners or Adversaries?

I don’t see any mention of new initiatives at the US national level to curb this increasing demand for drugs. The end result of a real spirit of cooperation would be much more than a safe border and a reduction in drug-related crime and human smuggling.

It could lead to the US and Mexico – and Canada as well – becoming the world’s economic powerhouse, far outstripping China. However, if we don’t do our share – even something as relatively simple as random checks for weapons at our ports of entry – we will never be true partners.

Smith travels at least monthly to the Mexican border to document conditions there and assist various humanitarian organizations.