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Column 122605 Brewer

Monday, December 26, 2005

Walling out or walling in Mexico won’t work

By Jerry Brewer

Many supporters in the United States, plus their

legislators, are desperately pushing for a wall along the
U.S.-Mexico border. But the time has come to think
about this a little more strategically.

After all, what is a wall?

Obviously walls enclose our homes and businesses, and

make us feel secure. They also keep the unwanted out.
Webster’s Dictionary takes it a little further: “A high
thick masonry structure forming a long rampart or an
enclosure chiefly for defense. A structure that serves to
hold back pressure (as of water or sliding earth). An
extreme or desperate position or a state of defeat,
failure, or ruin.”

As to the necessity for barriers along a 2000-mile U.S.-

Mexico border, have we really given a lot of thought to
what we are walling in, or out?

It should be clear to many of us that this wall will not

stop narco-terrorism, drug smuggling, trafficking in
human, arms dealing, or related violence from the
south. Will it stop a U.S. drug habit of US$26 billion a
year? Do we “wall in” violent Latin American drug
cartels, paramilitary trained assassins, and Latin gangs
that have been here for years. Is this wall to simply
keep illegal migrants out?

Lets examine what we know to be fact.

We won’t be building walls at airports and seaports, nor
will we building domes to keep people from “dropping
in.” We probably will not be spending a lot of money
looking for subterranean trespassers.

Or do we let the borders swing open? No we cannot

ignore illegal immigration, even while migration has
played an integral role in American history. Yet there
are a reported 8 million illegal aliens living in the United
States, and the U.S. government has forecast a
shortage of 20 million workers by 2026.

One concern has been the potential of terrorists

utilizing tunnels on the Mexican border, previously built
by drug smugglers, to breech the border underground.
In the past decade nearly 20 tunnels have been
discovered. Several years ago, on a ranch 20 miles
east of the Mexican border town of Tecate, Baja
California a tunnel entrance into the United States was
discovered that allowed smugglers entry after a 270-
meter journey. The tunnel contained rails to allow carts
to transport cocaine and other drugs, a tunnel that led
to the back of a staircase in a house in California.

A tunnel discovered in Nogales, Arizona led to a parking

place near the U.S. Customs office.

Another elaborate tunnel, 90 meters long, was

discovered in the early 1990s near Douglas, Arizona,
with the Mexico side of the border entrance being in a
storehouse in Agua Prieta, Sonora. In a raid related to
this tunnel, 2,200 pounds of cocaine were found that
had been smuggled, plus 16 tons of drugs on the
Mexican side stored in a warehouse. Less creative
tunnels and passageways have been through drainage
channels. Six tunnels have been discovered since our
September 11 tragedy, five having been put into
operation after the terrorist attacks.

Arizona has a network of airports, and an estimated

600 abandoned airstrips. Traffickers use these airports
and runways to smuggle their goods, or pilots evade
radar and land at remote locations, including long
stretches of highway. Authorities who track aircraft
approaching U.S. border locations report that aircraft
often “fade” from radar near the border and appear to
land at remote locations, which is indicative of
traffickers moving contraband to the border and
offloading the shipments for overland smuggling.

As well, let us not forget that our Mexican neighbors are

the world’s fifth largest oil producer. Too, we must not
ignore the fact that drug seizures are up all along our
border.

Mexico and the United States are making progress in

arresting drug kingpins and seizing more and more
contraband. This attributed to better intelligence
sharing, increased manpower, and improved
technology. And our war on terror has increased this
strategic vigilance.

Inflation has dropped from 16.6 percent in Mexico since

1999, and the standard of living of the poorest of
Mexico’s 106 million inhabitants is reported to have
improved, albeit ever so slightly. Progress we can’t
ignore, along with hope for our neighbors and growing
cooperation.

So is a wall the answer to our problems or theirs?

The answer is no, especially at a time when spreading

numbers of leftist leaders are making significant inroads
and getting elected in many Latin American countries, a
point in time when we should be embracing those who
believe in us.

——————————
Jerry Brewer, the Vice President of Criminal Justice
International Associates, a global risk mitigation firm
headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, is also a
columnist with MexiData.info. He can be reached via e-
mail at Cjiaincusa@aol.com jbrewer@cjiausa.org