The illegal immigration of Mexican citizens to the United States has long been a problem for the Border States. Although some cross the border in search for job opportunities and a better life for their family, others come for the sole purpose of manipulating the American drug trade. As a Texas resident, the highly organized drug cartels have posed a direct threat to the safety of my family living near the border; many have moved elsewhere. The situation has only gotten worse with the corruption of Mexican officials and law enforcement, as well as "Operation Fast and Furious" and until the cartels are taken down, the violence and merciless murders will continue to spread into the U.S.
Living in Austin, deeper within Texas, I am far enough from the border to where the violence isn't a problem. At my high school I've watched a steady influx of Mexican students, typically the richer ones that can afford to move and become legal citizens. Most places in Mexico have gotten so dangerous from the drug wars that they can't afford to risk their families lives. Other less fortunate families can't afford to move away and are stuck in the middle of the shootings and many innocent people die each week. The cartels operate on a basis of fear, killing many people at a time and burying them in a mass grave as an example to the public. They also use their widespread presence throughout Mexico and the southern United States to scare people and give the impression that they are an unstoppable force.
Not only do Mexican gang members smuggle drugs across the border but they force innocent people to do it for them. They also pay off some Mexican officials and law enforcement in order to keep them out of the way. Should the Mexican officials or drug runners refuse to help them, the cartels might kill their family or something worse. While the government is being payed off and scared into submission, no one will be able to stop the cartels and their control over Mexican provinces and smuggling routes. The intense violence has caused a greater amount of Mexicans to illegally immigrate to the U.S., causing even more problems. The cartels
In the city of McAllen, as well as many other border towns there are Mexican cities of equal distance from the border in which the cartels base their smuggling operations. This puts the cities on the U.S. side in greater danger as drug traffickers travel through these cities. McAllen has a predominantly Mexican population and its seems extremely difficult to stem the flow of immigration. My uncle Fred recently had a terrifying experience which caused him to move further into Texas. He was dating a young Mexican girl whom he found out was also dating a gang affiliated Mexican Federale (federal police). Once the Federale found out, he called up Fred and told him to meet at iHop to "talk". In reality, my uncle Fred ended up at gunpoint and was kidnapped by the man and his friends. They took him to a ranch where they beat him senseless and left him in a horse trailer. After leaving for a short time, they came back, beat him some more, and tied him up. Trying to play dead, he kept as quiet as possible while they left another time. Luckily, he was able to sneak out of the opening at the top of the trailer and he ran to the nearest building, an elementary school. There he banged on the doors until someone came to help him and call the police.
Just when the world thought it couldn't get any worse, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms of the United States fueled the fire. In "Operation Fast and Furious", licensed firearm dealers were ordered by the ATF to sell firearms to straw buyers which sold the weapons to Mexican cartels, in an effort to track the weapons and take down high ranking cartel members. During the period of the sting operation, over 2,000 firearms were sold to straw purchasers and made their way to cartel members. As of 2011, only 700 of the guns have been recovered (as of 2011) with no progress in arresting the higher up cartel members. After a tracked gun showed up at the murder of Border Patrol agent, the operation went public. Of course neither President Obama nor Attorney General Eric Holder knew anything about or approved the gun walking operations, which is always the case in a huge fallacy such as this. As these guns continue to show up at the sites of murders by cartel members, diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Mexico have weakened.
It's quite unfortunate that the world's largest supplier of drugs happens to share borders with the world's largest consumer of drugs. Due to the extreme violence exhibited on innocent tourists as well as locals my family knows vacationing to Mexico isn't worth the risk anymore. We used to be able to drive across the border and have dinner in Reynosa or Matamoros, now it's not worth getting robbed or shot. While the border patrol and other law enforcement in the U.S. does their best to keep the cartel violence under control, their jurisdiction can't reach into Mexico's borders. The most Texas residents can do is wait for the collapse of the cartels and hope they won't make it to where they live.
Living in Austin, deeper within Texas, I am far enough from the border to where the violence isn't a problem. At my high school I've watched a steady influx of Mexican students, typically the richer ones that can afford to move and become legal citizens. Most places in Mexico have gotten so dangerous from the drug wars that they can't afford to risk their families lives. Other less fortunate families can't afford to move away and are stuck in the middle of the shootings and many innocent people die each week. The cartels operate on a basis of fear, killing many people at a time and burying them in a mass grave as an example to the public. They also use their widespread presence throughout Mexico and the southern United States to scare people and give the impression that they are an unstoppable force.
Not only do Mexican gang members smuggle drugs across the border but they force innocent people to do it for them. They also pay off some Mexican officials and law enforcement in order to keep them out of the way. Should the Mexican officials or drug runners refuse to help them, the cartels might kill their family or something worse. While the government is being payed off and scared into submission, no one will be able to stop the cartels and their control over Mexican provinces and smuggling routes. The intense violence has caused a greater amount of Mexicans to illegally immigrate to the U.S., causing even more problems. The cartels
In the city of McAllen, as well as many other border towns there are Mexican cities of equal distance from the border in which the cartels base their smuggling operations. This puts the cities on the U.S. side in greater danger as drug traffickers travel through these cities. McAllen has a predominantly Mexican population and its seems extremely difficult to stem the flow of immigration. My uncle Fred recently had a terrifying experience which caused him to move further into Texas. He was dating a young Mexican girl whom he found out was also dating a gang affiliated Mexican Federale (federal police). Once the Federale found out, he called up Fred and told him to meet at iHop to "talk". In reality, my uncle Fred ended up at gunpoint and was kidnapped by the man and his friends. They took him to a ranch where they beat him senseless and left him in a horse trailer. After leaving for a short time, they came back, beat him some more, and tied him up. Trying to play dead, he kept as quiet as possible while they left another time. Luckily, he was able to sneak out of the opening at the top of the trailer and he ran to the nearest building, an elementary school. There he banged on the doors until someone came to help him and call the police.
Just when the world thought it couldn't get any worse, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms of the United States fueled the fire. In "Operation Fast and Furious", licensed firearm dealers were ordered by the ATF to sell firearms to straw buyers which sold the weapons to Mexican cartels, in an effort to track the weapons and take down high ranking cartel members. During the period of the sting operation, over 2,000 firearms were sold to straw purchasers and made their way to cartel members. As of 2011, only 700 of the guns have been recovered (as of 2011) with no progress in arresting the higher up cartel members. After a tracked gun showed up at the murder of Border Patrol agent, the operation went public. Of course neither President Obama nor Attorney General Eric Holder knew anything about or approved the gun walking operations, which is always the case in a huge fallacy such as this. As these guns continue to show up at the sites of murders by cartel members, diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Mexico have weakened.
It's quite unfortunate that the world's largest supplier of drugs happens to share borders with the world's largest consumer of drugs. Due to the extreme violence exhibited on innocent tourists as well as locals my family knows vacationing to Mexico isn't worth the risk anymore. We used to be able to drive across the border and have dinner in Reynosa or Matamoros, now it's not worth getting robbed or shot. While the border patrol and other law enforcement in the U.S. does their best to keep the cartel violence under control, their jurisdiction can't reach into Mexico's borders. The most Texas residents can do is wait for the collapse of the cartels and hope they won't make it to where they live.