The bloody drug war in Mexico shows no sign of relenting. Neither do calls for tighter border security amid rising fears of spillover violence.
This hardly seems a time the U.S. would be willing to allow people to cross the border legally from Mexico without a customs officer in sight. But in this rugged, remote West Texas terrain where wading across the shallow Rio Grande undetected is all too easy, federal authorities are touting a proposal to open an unmanned port of entry as a security upgrade.By the spring, kiosks could open up in Big Bend National Park allowing people from the tiny Mexican town of Boquillas del Carmen to scan their identity documents and talk to a customs officer in another location, at least 100 miles away.... The crossing, which would be the nation's first such port of entry with Mexico, has sparked opposition from some who see it as counterintuitive in these days of heightened border security. Supporters say the crossing would give the isolated Mexican town long-awaited access to U.S. commerce, improve conservation efforts and be an unlikely target for criminal operations.
...A public comment period runs through Dec. 27 on the estimated $2.3 million project, which has support at the highest levels of government from both countries... But U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican member of the House Homeland Security committee, questioned the wisdom of using resources to make it easier to cross the border...
...A small military presence protects the [Mexican] town from the drug-related violence that has engulfed other Mexican border towns. Now with news of the port of entry, residents are already making plans for restaurants and shops, he said... "When it closed nobody crossed and everything went downhill. People began to leave," he said. "Now people are going to return."
Yes, people are going to return. Especially the narco-terrorists who have killed tens of thousands of Mexicans over the past several years.
Doug, I have been an avid reader for years, but this is my first comment.
ReplyDeleteAs to this location, I have been in the area on my motorcycle, but I have never taken the road there as it is too arduous for the end-point. However, I can say that this is about the only location where this even makes sense. It is that isolated. One could have a camera on the road going out and know everyone who is driving out. If needed, the route is easy to interdict.
Ducatisti
@Ducatisti -
ReplyDeleteThanks for the readership and the comment.
I'm worried about the precedent more than anything else.
But point taken.